Take BART to Oakland Museum's celebration of activism
The Oakland Museum of California and Creative Time are sponsoring the reenactment of a landmark 1969 speech by activist Angela Davis. It's part of a project to examine American democracy by considering today's political situation in context to that of the 1960s and 70s. The stage will be set for the reenactment by a talk with the artist behind the project and a film screening. All events are free and open to the public.
Mark Tribe’s Port Huron Project is a series of reenactments of key New Left speeches from the 1960s and 70s. Tribe’s intent is to examine and inspire civic dialogue about political and social concerns of our times as we approach the culmination of the presidential election cycle.
Angela Davis’s 1969 speech passionately advocated combining anti-Vietnam War sentiments with social justice causes, emphasizing her points with illustrations of government treatment of the Black Panther Party and the controversial conspiracy trial of Democratic National Convention protesters, which occurred only weeks before.
Events begin at the museum on Friday, Aug. 1, at 6:30 p.m., with the screening of an hour-long abridged version of "Chicago 10," which combines animation, archival film footage, and audio recordings in recounting the buildup to and unraveling of the Chicago conspiracy trial after the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The film by Academy Award-nominated director Brett Morgen is presented courtesy of ITVS Community Cinema.
Immediately following the screening, at 7:30 p.m., the museum will present a talk with Mark Tribe of Port Huron Project; Rene de Guzman, senior curator of art; and former Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas. The talk is part of the museum's "First Fridays After Five" series of events.
The Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th Street, in Oakland, is one block from the Lake Merritt BART Station. Call 510/238-2200 or visit www.museumca.org for more information
Events continue with the reenactment of the Angela Davis speech on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 6 p.m., at DeFremery Park in West Oakland, the site of her original speech.
DeFremery Park (formerly Bobby Hutton Park, after the martyred Black Panther) is in West Oakland, at 1651 Adeline St., between 16th and 17th streets. It is approximately 1 mile from the West Oakland BART Station.
Walking directions from the station can be found here.
Bus directions from the station can be found at www.511.org.
Photo credit: Homepage thumbnail image, portrait of Angela Davis courtesy of Jesus Barraza and Oakland Museum of California.