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African American History Month
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George Walker was one of America's most honored composers, having had his works performed by every major orchestra in the country, and was the first African-American composer to win a Pulitzer Prize for music.
Panteha Abareshi is an L.A. based artist whose work hones in on chronic illness and disability. Abareshi lives in a body that coexists with sickle cell zero beta thalassemia and their performance-based work reflects the complexities that come with experiencing a body with chronic illness.
Celebrated nationwide every February, African American History Month looks to honor African American heritage, history, culture and identity.
There are plenty of biographies about Martin Luther King Jr. written for children, and more are published every year. But sometimes parents, caregivers, and teachers might want to focus less on dates and places, and more on the inspiration Dr.
African American History Month begins today; on February 1 we also celebrate the birthday of Langston Hughes, one of the most powerful voices in American poetry.
On this first day of African American History Month, we reflect on the African American community of early Los Angeles.
“Today I sketched the preliminary plans for a large country house which will be erected in one of the most beautiful residential districts in the world... Sometimes I have dreamed of living there. I could afford such a home.
The notion of having one’s own savings account is commonplace to us modern folk. But for former slaves—many of whom had never even seen money—it was an alien concept. And, in a country that runs on capitalism, getting the hang of money management was (and is) essential to survival.
“I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me...all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”—Jackie Robinson
Before Barack Obama, Hiram Revels and Shirley Chisholm helped govern the nation. William Wells Brown wrote a novel before Toni Morrison. Phillis Wheatley published poems before Langston Hughes. And Oscar Micheaux made films before Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay.





![Members of the Junior NAACP, [1923]. Shades of L.A. Collection Members of the Junior NAACP, 1923, Shades of L.A. Collection](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2024-02/african-american-ins-early-la-1.jpg?itok=x0JfSK9R)



