Black History Month in Marin City to explore resistance

Black History Month will be celebrated in Marin City this year under the banner of “resistance.”

The theme is intended to capture the means by which Black people have asserted themselves despite obstacles and prejudice, said the Rev. Rondall Leggett of First Missionary Baptist Church in Marin City. The events are intended to pay tribute to the men, women and movements from the past and present who resisted oppression, both in Marin County and abroad.

“Black history is really about Black resistance,” he said. “Marin City is where it is today because there were some people who stood up, who had to fight.”

Leggett said he hopes the events will educate young generations about the local Black history that preceded them. The sub-themes include nonviolence, education, literature, sports, media, legislation and armed struggle.

“Black history is not widely taught in our school systems, so we want to use every opportunity that we get to shed a light, shine a light on Black history,” he said. “Whether it is in regards to housing, voting or health care, or certainly our law enforcement and the challenges there with racial profiling and the justice system, there’s always been some form of resistance from African Americans to ensure we got a fair shot.”

Events planned this month include a panel discussion on Feb. 16 about the Marin City Black Panther Party; a forum on Feb. 24 about the legacy of African American leadership; and a forum on Feb. 25 about the music of the resistance.

Oshalla Diana Marcus, director of Marin City Arts and Culture and the curator of MC Arts Gallery that is organizing the Black Panther panel event, grew up in Marin City in the early 1970s, she said.

She recalled participating in a Black Panther Party community service program that provided free breakfasts for schoolchildren.

“We often get this big stereotype of them with the big rifles and the big jackets, but many people don’t see these were young college students who gave back to their community and took what they learned and they applied it in an international context,” she said.

For Marcus, these community service acts became a defining characteristic of Black resistance.

“Resistance to me is taking care of yourself and taking care of your community,” she said. “The Panthers were an inspiration to me in the context that their resistance was taking care of people when the government was not. They just did it.”

The Black Panther Party was a Black socialist movement that proliferated out of the Bay Area, specifically in Oakland, and went nationwide.

Marcus, who lives in Richmond, said the panel would explore the deep roots of Marin City residents from the 1960s onward, at a time when the area was almost exclusively Black. She said she hopes their cooperative ethos could serve as a lesson for some of the Black advocates and Black youths growing up in Marin City today.

The Black History Month events also include a nod to the future.

Melvin Atkins, a Marin City community advocate, is set to lead an educational workshop on reparations on Feb. 17. Atkins said state representatives are being solicited to join the workshop and provide insights on AB 3121, which established a task force in California to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans.

Atkins said he hopes the presentation will cut through the misconceptions about the bill and the concept of reparations for Black Americans.

“Education and information are what we want,” he said. “At the end, whatever stance people have, they will be making the decision based on factual information. Never mind your fears, never mind your emotions.”

The task force is in a fact-finding phase to develop recommendations for legislative action.

Yaya Morgan, a community event organizer, said she hopes the information shared over the month would allow the community “to grow on all levels.”

“We’re trying to get our generations to be on the same page,” she said. “I think we need to get back to being self-sustainable.”

Morgan said she would be acting as a resource to connect community members to the events over the month. Additional events include help navigating the justice system through the Marin County “clean slate” program on Feb. 15, and a movie night featuring the film “Fruitvale Station” on Feb. 20.

“I think this generational thing is happening as we are speaking, but we will soon be in the walking stage so that we can run our area based on the people that are here,” she said. “I want them to understand that we are unstoppable. We can’t stop and we won’t stop.”