BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE DEMANDING MORE!
Take the Black Tulip Pledge!
Affirm, Acknowledge, Advocate, Ally & Amplify Black Women and Girls
During Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, we held our first BLACK TULIP Cultural Week of Action - 3 days of FREE visual, performing and healing arts public activations to amplify the urgency of a Protect Black Women and Girls Act of California.
BLACK TULIP™️ is a community Call-to-Action that amplifies the transformative power of art and movement-building to DEMAND that policy makers establish a Protect Black Women & Girls Act of California.
In Oakland, Black women, girls and gender expansive folks are going missing, being violently harmed, murdered and trafficked. With artists being critical pillars that shift cultural policy, we are urging a Protect Black Women & Girls Act at the state level in California through art advocacy.
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Black Tulip Cultural Week of Action
October 3-5, 2024
The Betti Ono Foundation, in partnership with the Black Arts Movement Business District CDC is activating the first annual BLACK TULIP™ Cultural Week of Action to radically imagine care, safety and protection for the vibrant identities of Black women and girls.
BLACK TULIP kicked off on October 3rd with a Write-In hosted by Poet Laureate: Dr. ayodele nzinga at BAM House. With over 60 in-person and virtual attendees, Oakland’s only Black Box Theater came alive with a beautiful altar, independent writing prompts and 4 incredible spoken word artists who used their powerful voices as a poetic cypher to hold space for both rage and healing.
On October 4th, BLACK TULIP partnered with Oakland First Friday to educate, inspire and engage community members to learn about Black Tulip’s local art-advocacy movement building work.
The finale day of BLACK TULIP lit up the stage with poetic and political advocacy for Black women and girls on October 5th. Over 30 voices activated the Lake Merritt Amphitheater with soul stimulating and high vibrational performances, reflections, pledges and acknowledgement for people who have violently lost family members and organizations who have been systemically centering the safety and survival of Black girls.
“When I liberate myself, I liberate others. If you don’t speak out ain’t nobody going to speak out for you.”
– Fannie Lou Hamer
BLACK TULIP™ is one of 14 anchor projects selected as a collaborator and grant recipient for the 2024 national Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy. This is an initiative that’s bringing people together through arts, culture, and creativity, in order to: Elevate the work of local BIPOC arts and culture institutions that can resonate this vision through truth-telling while sparking collective action to advance racial justice.
All photography: Bethanie Hines