Join Mayor Karen Bass; Dr. Lura Daniels-Ball, President, Our Authors Study Club, Inc.; Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Council President, Councilman, Second District; Marqueece Harris-Dawson, President Pro Tempore, Los Angeles City Council, Councilman, Eighth District; Curren D. Price, Councilman, Ninth District; Heather Hutt, Councilwoman, Tenth District; Board of Public Works President Pro Tempore Mike Davis and the Board of Public Works; the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA); The 2024 African American Heritage Month Honorary Chair Danny Bakewell, Jr., Executive Vice President, The Bakewell Company; and the 2024 African American Heritage Month Committee to officially commemorate and celebrate the Opening of African American Heritage Month in the City of Los Angeles.
At this in-person celebration, presentations will be made to the 2024 Living Legends Honorees: visual artist and civil rights activist, Mamie Hansberry; singer, actress, and author, Freda Payne; and 2024 Hall of Fame Honorees: Dr. Elaine Batchelor, CEO Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Healthcare; Dr. Harry Elam, President, Occidental College; and Charmaine Jefferson, Owner, Kélan Resources and Board of Trustees Chairman, California Institute of the Arts. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s national theme for Black History Month is African Americans and the Arts. We honor this theme and salute the present and past members of Our Authors Study Club, Inc., who first partnered with the City 74 years ago in 1950 to celebrate our history of accomplishment and resilience while looking forward to the future to excite and encourage others to join in keeping Black history alive and vibrant. [Read the full executive summary on the 2024 theme: African Americans and the Arts online at asalh.org.]
In partnership with Jeremie Six, the 41st Postmaster of Los Angeles, the Postal Service will unveil the 2024 Black History Month Stamp. The 47th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Constance Baker Motley (1921–2005), the first African American woman known to have argued a case before the United States Supreme Court, and the first to serve as a federal judge. The stamp features a portrait of Motley created by artist Charly Palmer.
