Across the nation, we the people are responding.

Every community has something to contribute. The observance you plan will reflect your local story and your values! An observance can be anything you like: a performance, an exhibit, a tree planting, a citywide potluck, a concert.

View the calendar

University of Orange’s Music City project invites choirs, musicians, neighbors and residents to come together and celebrate the power of community and music, and to remember and recognize the leaders whose shoulders we stand on, and our own capacity to be forces of positive change in our city.

In recognition of the 400 years which have passed since enslaved people were first brought to the U.S., University of Baltimore Law Review’s Fall Symposium will use the history of American enslavement as a lens to discuss slavery’s evolution and its effects on our criminal justice system.

Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy is hosting a curriculum disruption and panel on the public health impact of 400 years of inequality on November 12th at 6:00 pm at Morgan State University Behavioral and Social Sciences Center.

At Harvard University, Evelynn M. Hammonds, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, and Linda Villarosa, contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine discuss medical racism and its roots in chattel slavery.

Washington University is producing "Four Hundred Years Forward – Freedom in Our Time" on November 10, 2019.

Middle Collegiate Church in New York is hosting a 1619 teach-in, followed by worship that celebrates the African diaspora and with libations to elders to follow.

The American Journal of Public Health released a special issue on the 400th anniversary of Jamestown and the health implications of inequality.

"Disrupt the Narrative: Planning as Social Justice" is a morning event taking place at Texas A&M's College of Architecture on Tuesday, October 29th

The New School’s College of Performing Arts, in conjunction with the 400 Years of Inequality Organizing Committee and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, will host an evening featuring several readings from Voices of a People’s History performed by students from the School of Drama and special guests as well as musical performances by students from the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music with special guests.

Baltimore native Maimouna Youssef is of Choctaw, African American, and Muslim heritage who was born into a family of exceptional artists deeply rooted in healing, spirituality and activism. This timely healing concert at Harlem Stages will leave you transformed and uplifted.

On October 20th, a solemn observance of the 400th Anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to be sold into bondage in the U.S. will be held at The Riverside Church. This multi-faith service is presented by The Riverside Church, Union Theological Seminary, and 400 years of Inequality. Reverend William Barber, a founder of the Poor People’s Campaign, will give the homily.

Join us for a conversation with historian Jamon Jordan of Black Scroll Network and equity advocate Lauren Hood to discuss Detroit's place in the larger American story, how 1619 shaped our city & region today, and what we can each do to refuse to reproduce structures of dehumanization & inequity as we build a better future together.

Hike the Heights and Uptown Team Dreamers are leading a hike for a just future on October 12th from 169th St and Broadway to Union Square.

Keep Ya Head Up! is an ode to the beauty, pain, strength, and vulnerability of Black mothers as we commemorate the 400th year since 1619. Keep Ya Head Up! seeks to tell the TRUTH of Mammy, from the perspective of those who love and revere her.

In collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Film/Video Department, and in the realm of the “400 Years of Inequality” initiative, Black Lives Matter Pratt will screen Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th featuring a post-screening discussion facilitated by Katherine Cheairs.

Reducing Youth Involvement with the Criminal Justice System is part of the 400 Years of Inequity Series, focusing on youth involvement in the criminal justice system, specifically in New Jersey. Speakers will include those from Rutgers, the Newark public school system, and community-based organizations.

This observance pays homage to the people of Harlem: Racing against the dynamic forces of gentrification and time, the documentary, "In the Face of What We Remember: Oral Histories of 409 and 555 Edgecombe Avenue, "captures the extraordinary history of two Harlem buildings that were, perhaps, the social, political, and cultural epicenter of the Black World.

Moral philosopher Susan Neiman’s new book Learning from the Germans combines philosophical reflection, personal stories, and interviews with Americans and Germans grappling with their respective national histories. She is joined in conversation by UCLA history and African American studies professor Brenda Stevenson, author of What is Slavery? among other books.

A teach-in observing the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to the shores of Jamestown, Virginia. Over the course of five hours, anyone can delve into American and trans-Atlantic history from 1619 to the present, engaging with historical facts and learning more about their profound ramifications to this country.

Produced as part of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, the film examines gender, relationships between enslaved people, colorism, cultural conflicts, and religion. Sankofa expertly conveys the vantage point of the enslaved people, balancing the realistic portrayal of both oppression and resistance Followed by a Q&A with director Haile Gerima and UCLA history and African American studies professor Brenda Stevenson.

The Center for Urban and Racial Equity is hosting 400 Years: And Still We Rise Storytelling Event on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 in Washington, DC in celebration of the strength, survival and resiliency of black people in America. The event will feature a local live band and eight dynamic storytellers who will help us lift up our collective stories of struggle, perserverance, triumph, hope and vision for a just future.

Socially conscious and musically excellent, the musicians of the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization perform a timely program that promotes justice and peace - featuring the World Premiere of Damien Sneed's "Our Journey: 400 Years from Africa to Jamestown." Organized by Carnegie Hall.

UnionDocs and Urban Democracy Lab are screening Pam Sporn’s Detroit 48202: Conversations Along a Postal Route, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker and local leaders.

A national summit commemorating the 400-year anniversary of slavery, connecting this history to current racial disparities, and discussing where we go from here.

As a national conversation about reparations takes root, BHS and the Social Science Research Council gather a panel of experts to unpack the notion of reparations broadly, examine various forms that reparations might take, and look at one concrete example happening today.

As a kickoff to the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) 47th annual conference being held in Brooklyn, the New York Coalition of Black Architects (NYCOBA) and BlackSpace are partnering on a joint event on Wednesday, October 16th; an opportunity for conference attendees and volunteers to participate in a Black heritage conservation and future-making design initiative.

Boston University is hosting a symposium titled "400 Years of Inequality: Breaking the Cycle of Systemic Racism" on October 18, 2019.

On October 10th - 12th, the 2019 Lapidus Center Conference entitled "Enduring Slavery: Resistance, Public Memory, and Transatlantic Archives," will bring together scholars, visual artists, and writers to discuss the history of transatlantic slavery and its afterlives.

White Supremacy. Microaggressions. Black Lives Matter. Reparations. The issues are urgent, the conversation moving at breakneck speed, but is our country heading forward, or backward? Author, speaker, preacher and Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson is joined by Heather McGhee, former head of Demos and Brooklyn Community Foundation Fair and Just Fellow, for this discussion on America’s essential race question.

On October 12th, Tulane University will host a community event to encourage an open discussion surrounding the impact of slavery on the United States; this event is the first of a series, titled "400 Years of Inequality: Changing the Narrative"

George Washington Carver Museum in Austin, TX is hosting a Museum Day observance on September 22.

400 Years of Perseverance is a commemoration held by the The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) to observe the four centuries since the arrival of Africans in the first permanent English Colony in North America.

The Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues Annual Symposium will take place on November 2, 2019 at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia, PA. This year's theme is "400 Years of Inequity: Social Justice Through Research, Policy & Practice".

Martha's Vineyard organizations are collaborating to commemorate 400 years of African American perseverance in the United States; 1619-2019.

The New York Times Magazine observed the anniversary of enslaved Africans arriving in Jamestown in 1619 with a special project that examines the many ways the legacy of slavery continues to shape and define life in the United States, with an event August 13 and a special issue of the New York Times Magazine.

Mary Travis Bassett, former NYC Commissioner of Health and currently Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, and Harriet Washington, author of the award-winning Medical Apartheidand, most recently, A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault of the American Mind, explore the complicated history and ramifications of our county’s race-based health inequalities.

OneDC's Juneteenth Community Learning Event will feature historians, community organizers, and artists speaking about the history and significance of Juneteenth, as well as the current struggle for liberation today.

Brooklyn Historical Society hosts a conversation, moderated by Kai Wright, with Richard Rothstein, April de Simone, Sarita Daftary-Steel, and Catherine Green on Redlining—the systematically racist banking practice of denying loans to people of color in post-WWII urban neighborhoods— and the intense discrimination that persists as non-white communities face continuous exclusion from the “American Dream” of homeownership.

The scars we still bear as a country from slavery, an institution that endured for centuries, are evident in countless facets of our society, including the significant health inequalities that persist throughout the United States. In recognition of this anniversary, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health is organizing a number of talks and events that will take place on Monday, October 14 to educate and engage our community.

La MaMa, with the Poetry Project and other artists, respond to and reflect upon the 400 years since the British founding of Jamestown through historical text, poetry, music and dance. The often-shameful history from 1619 to the present is marked by ruthless colonization, centuries of slavery and racism, the demonization of immigrants and the marginalization of entire social classes.

This panel explores tangible proposals that might also represent, in the words of Ta-Nehisi Coates, a “national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal.” UCLA history professor Brenda Stevenson moderates a conversation with UC Riverside history and education professor V.P. Franklin and labor economist and author Julianne Malveaux.

Healing of the Nations Foundation and Carnegie Hall hosted the fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration Day on June 19.

October 16th at the Weeksville Heritage Center the national organization of minority architects (NOMA) will be collaborating with BlackSpaceNYC for the observance during the kickoff event for the annual NOMA conference.

Cornell University professor Edward Baptist and NYU professor Michele Mitchell discuss the history of the institution of slavery, what was different between its incarnations in the North and the South, and what was tragically similar.

This day-long symposium will kick off a year of events at UC Berkeley to mark the 400 year anniversary of the beginning of slavery in North America. The events are being co-organized by the Haas Institute, the African American studies and history departments, the African American Student Development Center, and the Black Staff & Faculty Organization.

Socrates Sculpture Park invites the community on October 12 to gather with us for “A People’s Observance For A Just Future” in conjunction with the 400 Years of Inequality initiative, aiming to nationally acknowledge and reflect upon the 400 years since Africans were first brought to Jamestown to be sold into bondage.

On May 16th, students of Maxine Green High School will perform selections from Voices of People's History with music and special guests at the Atrium at Lincoln Center.

Leaders from the NAACP are partnering with the Year of Return, taking a journey from Jamestown, VA to Jamestown in Ghana from August 18 - 25.

On March 15th, The New School hosted the third 400 Years Symposium, titled "A People's Observance for a Just Future"

CLIMB (City Life is Moving Bodies) hosted their 15th annual Hike the Heights as a People's Observance, with a reflection tree and other activities during and after the hike through Northern Manhattan's parks.

HERE Artist in Residence Zoey Martinson will present a student/educator preview of Black History Museum…According to the United States of America (BHM). This new production by Smoke & Mirrors Collaborative takes the form of a theatrical museum that delves into the fraught relationship between Black bodies and the value America has placed on those bodies.

The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society is holding it's 40th conference titled "400 Years of Black History"

Theatre of War Productions is producing "Antigone in Ferguson" at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn from May 8 to July 13.

"Union", a new musical about the Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike in 1968, will perform in observance of 1619.

The American Slavery Project is presenting a Spring Play Reading Series “The ABCs:African-Americans from Bondage Through Crow” March 4th, April 8th, May 6th and June 17th at 7pm at The National Black Theatre.

March 24, Montclair, NJ: The Undoing Racism Committee of UUCM hosted their annual women's history month celebration to reflect on the trials endured by women and learn ways to work towards a just future.

OneDC is hosting an Emancipation Day Celebration on Tuesday, April 16, a Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, June 15, a Juneteenth Community Learning event on Wednesday, June 19, and events TBD in August and October.

When filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history, she and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide. Browne, who testified in June at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on reparations, will discuss issues of racism today following the screening.

First Church in Cambridge UCC is hosting a Sunday Discussion Series to reflect on the timeline and the First Church “39 Souls” exhibit, and a series of special events and services.

Montclair Public Library, October 15th, 2019: The book Slavery’s Descendants brings together contributors who are members of a national racial reconciliation organization called Coming to the Table, to tell their stories of dealing with America’s racial past through their experiences and their family histories.

From April 30 - May 4, the 2017 & 2018 Best Play AUDELCO Award-winning Billie Holiday Theatre presented A Walk Into Slavery, a play about reconnecting with one’s ancestors and redefining one’s purpose. We meet Hollis King, an international designer and photographer, just back from a journey that he’d put off for a lifetime to the homeland that he never knew. Featuring: Hollis King & Carl Hancock Rux Conceived and Directed By Indira Etwaroo Live Vocals By Marcelle Davies-Lashley

As a part of The New School Centennial, a dance performance from the Cotton Series will be held on October 4th, 2019 in The New School Tishman Auditorium. The Cotton Series as a whole is an investigation of Black womanhood and the unspoken sisterhood of black women as they interact with the many facets of American life.

Carnegie Hall Citywide: Hear works by African American and African English composers performed by the Catalyst Quartet, an ensemble known for its commitment to diversity and education.

The festival will be raising awareness about the ecology of inequality in upper Manhattan.

Safe Haven United Church of Christ (SHUCC) commemorated 400 years of the AFRICAN PRESENCE, PSYCHE, SPIRIT AND SOUL in America with presentations, libations, spoken word, music and a call to action!

The New School will host a series of curated events in tandem with their Centennial celebrations.

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH posted a special editorial in their January 2019 issue.

For their annual Jan term, University of Orange hosted a conversation on 400 Years, held a solidarity potluck, and hosted screen printing workshops.

BALLROOM FREEDOM SCHOOL will host special events looking at the role of the House community in fighting oppression of LGBTQ+ people.

Brooklyn Historical Society is planning an interdisciplinary week of nightly evening programs, weekend family events, teacher trainings, small group conversations, all of which explore the history and ramifications of the unresolved legacy of slavery.

The Black History Month Committee at Rutgers-Camden held a series of events dedicated to four centuries of African-descended history and culture in America, under the theme "400: Mapping the Hidden Traumas, Triumphs, and Trajectories of Black Life". The signature event was an address entitled, "Reflections on 400 Years of African-descended People in the US" by Dr. Prentiss Dantzler.

The 350 year old Old South Church will ring their the Great Bell (high in the Tower) and hand bells (outside in front of the church) will ring for four minutes (one minute per century) to mark 400 years of African American History and Culture and to honor those Africans who arrived here in 1619. Following the Bell Ringing, Old South members will share brief stories of important and influential African Americans.

University of Orange hosted a Community Seder with a special liberation Haggadah in commemoration of 1619.

The Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center (formerly the Willow Hill School) is initiating a series of African American Cemetery tours “If These Cemeteries Could Talk”, in Bulloch County, Georgia.

Lee Williams, co-founder of Positive1 and Oh My Genius, created this t-shirt design to build awareness. Follow their work at www.iampositiveone.com

WORLD FELLOWSHIP CENTER in New Hampshire conducted research on local legends Limbo, a slave who lived to be 90, and Pequawket healer, Molly Ockett. Pictured: Limbo's grave site, where locals leave seashells.

On Saturday, October 5, 2019, from 4 pm-6 pm, ASALH will hold a plenary session during its annual conference and meeting called "Stolen from African But Making Black Lives Matter".

Ashley, a PhD student at Milano School of Public Engagement, is organizing an art show titled "Keep Your Head Up" featuring the work of Black students reimagining and reclaiming the Mammy stereotype.

During their annual convention, the National Bar Association will host an event commemorating the 400th anniversary of Africans arriving in bondage to America, called 400 Years: Respectful Acknowledgment of Our Ancestors and African Heritage.

St. John's Episcopal Church in Warsaw, VA will rings its bells at 3 pm on August 25th to honor the first enslaved Africans who landed in English North America in 1619.

Facilitated by Ashley Bernal and Robert E. Fullilove, EdD, this event at the Jackson Medical Mall will observe the 400th anniversary of the 1619 arrival of the first Africans trafficked across the Atlantic Ocean and sold into bondage in the U.S.

N. Farnham Episcopal Church in Farnham, VA will rings its bells at 3 pm on August 25th to honor the first enslaved Africans who landed in English North America in 1619.

Hampton Art Lovers Presents "The Indaba Series" in conjunction with Brooklyn Combine - August 16th and 17th. INDABA: Zulu for "Meeting of Great Minds".

Truth's Table Podcast and Urban Doxology: Join Ekemini Uwan, Dr. Christina Edmondson, Michelle Higgins, and Urban Doxology to journey through African American past, present and future.

The University at Albany is hosting two months of events - performance, discussion, presentations, film, and dance - in observance of the 400 Years of Inequality.

"From Inequality to a Just Future" Pratt's Spring 2019 Lecture Series examined the history of inequality and injustice in the United States to reveal how we can best organize and plan to redress those inequities.

The City of Nantes, France is confronting its history of building slave ships, while wrestling with modern day racism.

Baltimore Egbe Akokonrin (Society of Brave Men) honored the 400 years of self-determination here in the North American continent by bringing intentional focus to the need to heal from trans-generational trauma, and cultivated what it means to be fully self-expressed Africans.

The Pastor and Members of NEW MOUNT ROSE MBC in Fort Worth, Texas honored the 400th Anniversary at their Annual Red Dress Tea and Black History Month Celebration. Pastor Kyev Tatum shared a history of three under told Texas stories of inequality.

Reparations Labor Union is hosting a Reparations Summit, where religious institutions and political candidates have been invited to present their reparations proposal for people of African descent to an anticipated gathering of 2500 people at SpaceLab Detroit.

The call is being answered.  People's Observances for a more just future are being planned.  How will you join us?

START PLANNING YOUR OBSERVANCE

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"I  already hosted my observance, but didn't share it." 

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