I’ve traveled to Palestine twice, the first time in 2014 and again in 2016. 

Both times feeling that it was important to educate myself about the “situation” all the while knowing that I would come face-to-face with a colonial-apartheid project in-process in my own lifetime. I had then, and continue to now, witness a disappointing silence from so many cultural workers, arts administrators, and creative arts funders, and have started to formulate a set of questions to help me understand the lack of public outrage.  What is the role of artists in times of war? What is the actual impact of hundreds of thousands of voices calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to genocide? and as Black, feminist, lesbian author Audre Lorde asks us to ask ourselves, “what are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?” My list of questions, along with my grief, gets longer and wider, and so has my hope.

I am being reminded through the actions of people across the globe that the role of the artist is to remind us to love and to stay the course. Artist As First Responder stands in solidarity with all oppressed peoples and will continue to create and hold space for our collective memory as we plot our course to victory, grateful for each battle and each breath. Join us this month as we celebrate the ongoing work of our team in communities across the nation.

Palestine, Sudan and the Congo Will Be Free!

~ashara

BLK Memory: Curatorial Strategies for an Ancient Future

· Tuesday, November 7 · · 6:00 - 8:00pm ·

Curator of “Tracking Im[mortality] // landscapes on safety,“ Ashara Ekundayo, in conversation with interdisciplinary artist, Cheryl Dericotte, and Museum of the African Diaspora’s Chief of Curatorial Affairs & Public Programs, Key Jo Lee.

· Free | RSVP REQUESTED · 
Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, 1401 Howard St. San Francisco, CA

FRONTLINE PROPHET: James Baldwin Goes to New Orleans!

·Thursday, November 9· ·6pm-8pm·

A Traveling Exhibition by Sabrina Nelson, Co-Curated by Ashara Ekundayo and Omo Misha.

New Orleans is the second of the five US cities the exhibition is traveling to including NYC, Oakland, Chicago, and Detroit plus Paris, France.

NOAAM, 1417- 1418 Governor Nicholls Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70116

Join Us for Throughline: An Art & Culinary Experience 

·Remaining Dates· ·Nov 11th, 12th, & 16th·

THROUGHLINE, is a multidisciplinary art show highlighting emerging Black artists from various mediums that celebrates female identifying change agents of Oakland.

1500 Broadway Oakland, CA 94612

Crochet Jam & Sip with Ramekon O’Arwisters

·Tuesday, November 14· ·5:30pm-8:00pm·

On the occasion of the Fall exhibition “Tracking Im[mortality] // landscapes on safety” join exhibiting interdisciplinary artist Ramekon O’Arwisters and Saint Joseph’s Art Society Curator-In-Residence, Ashara Ekundayo, for creative meditation and conversation over libations via Crochet Jam.

· Free | RSVP REQUESTED · 
Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, 1401 Howard St. San Francisco, CA

November’s Men’s Wellness Fellowship 

·Tuesday, November 28· ·6:00-8:00pm·

Our monthly Mens Wellness Fellowship invites Men of Color (and Youth) to gather in community to share stories, lessons, skills and strategies for health, wholeness and emotional, physical and creative wellness.

Hosted by co-founders Karega Bailey & Christian Walker

· Free Catered Food and Beverages ·

· Prize Raffle Giveaway ·

On View Thru December 15th, 2023 Two Exhibitions!

Hours 10a-5p · Mon-Fri

“Tracking Im[mortality] // landscapes of safety”

· Works by | Diamela Cutiño  · Cheryl Derricotte · Rodney Ewing · ·Ramekon O’Arwisters·

“Traversing: On Geographies of Blade and Bone”

· Works by | Christopher Burch ·

Both exhibitions are curated by Ashara Ekundayo 

Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, 1401 Howard St. San Francisco, CA

Welcoming November’s Curator-In-Residence, Henry L. Davis III

The Black Curator’s Lab (BlkCL) is a studio-based residency for ideation, research, making, and rest for Black independent curators living and working primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Designed and stewarded by independent curator Ashara Ekundayo.

Henry L. Davis III is a local San Francisco writer, journalist and archival student. During his time at the Black Curator’s Lab (BlkCL), in addition to developing a strategy for the curatorial space at the African American Arts & Cultural Complex, Henry will also be studying and design planning for his own environmental research zine, studying graphic design, and practicing studio/mix engineering.

BlkCL 2023-2024 inaugural year is co-sponsored by AECreative Consulting Partners LLC, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the African American Art & Culture Complex, and the Culture Change Fund.