FESTIVALS & EVENTS : Day of Unity Leads Parade of Black History Month Activities

Orange County has a Black History Parade again after a two-year absence, and organizers say the return of the event is helping to bring local African Americans together.

“Our whole premise and our slogan for this year is building unity in the community,” said Chuck Mosely, one of three main organizers for this year’s parade and cultural fair. “It’s the common thing that everybody wants.”

The Orange County Black History Parade will begin Saturday at 10 a.m. at Broadway and 15th Street in Santa Ana and will proceed along Broadway to Santa Ana Stadium. The stadium will be the site of the cultural fair, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., which will feature continuous live entertainment, food, craft and merchandise booths, children’s activities and rides.

Larry Carroll, a local news anchor, is grand marshal. Admission to both events is free. For information, call (714) 850-1577.

Mosely said he was frustrated by the inability to organize a parade in the past two years. “There were many false starts,” he said, but this year things have been different: “It’s brought about a sense of unity and a sense of wanting to help.”

Other Black History Month activities around the county include film screenings, lectures and art exhibits.

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Cal State Fullerton has a full slate of activities for the month. Some are listed here, all free unless otherwise noted. For information, call (714) 773-3211.

* Opening ceremonies will be today in the campus main quad from noon to 1 p.m., with music. At 6 p.m. in the University Center, Thomas Parham will give a talk on “Psychology in the ‘Hood.”

* An “Afrikan Marketplace” will be held Tuesday through Feb. 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the quad.

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Jamaican-born artist Michael Milton will be featured in an exhibition at the Orange Coast College Art Gallery, 2601 Fairview Road in Costa Mesa, through Feb. 28. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (also open 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month). Admission is free. (714) 432-5039.

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“Different Visions: The Works of Kerry James Marshall and Joseph Edward Grant,” will be on display through Feb. 25 at the Saddleback College Art Gallery, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Gallery hours are Tuesdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. (714) 582-4924.

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Several public events are also planned at Saddleback College, sponsored by the Black United Students of Saddleback College and the Associated Student Government. Events are free unless otherwise noted. Information: (714) 582-4500.

* Sylvia Lane will offer a lecture at noon on Wednesday, “Surviving Racism--The Strengths and Scars,” in the Student Services Center, Room 208.

* The Black Heritage Fair will be held on the Upper Quad, Feb. 14 through 17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Several events are planned at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. The museum also has on long-term display items from the Tishman collection of African art. Museum admission is $1.50 to $4.50. Information: (714) 567-3600.

* Christopher Steiner, assistant curator of African art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and author of a new book, “African Art in Transit,” will lecture about the international trade in African art tonight at 7:30. He will also introduce a film based on his research, “In and Out of Africa.” Admission is $5 for museum members, $7.50 for non-members (includes museum admission).

* An “African American Family Workshop” will be Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. Children will make musical instruments and see a film on black American cultural accomplishments. Free with museum admission.

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The African American Student Union at UC Irvine has expanded the concept of Black History Month to what it calls an African Consciousness Quarter. Following is a list of some activities in the coming month. All are free and will be in the Cross Cultural Center, near the administration building on campus. Information: (714) 856-2226.

* Speaker Adisa Ajamu will address male-female relationships in a talk on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.

* A series of readings of works by African American women will be held Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.

* “Daughters of the Dust,” a 1991 feature film set in the richly African Gullah culture on the Sea Islands off the South Carolina-Georgia coast, will screen Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.

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* “A Raisin in the Sun,” Lorraine Hansberry’s study of a family living on Chicago’s South Side in the late ‘50s, continues through March 5 at the Alternative Repertory Theatre, 1636 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana. Performances are Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8, Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets are $13.50 to $16. (714) 836-7929.

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* “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” a one-woman show with Tamiko Washington, will be offered Friday and Saturday, plus Feb. 10-12, at 8 p.m. in the Forum Theatre at Irvine Valley College, 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Tickets are $7 to $8. (714) 559-3333.