The Great Migration and How this Changed California!
Creating Community in Black Los Angeles during the Great Migration and an Exploration of Black Business History
The Great Black Migration and the Development of the Popular Music and the Dance Scene in Early Twentieth Century Los Angeles
Black Beach Culture Development and Attempts to Build Businesses at the California Beaches
The History of Los Angeles’ Central Avenue when it was the hub of African American Life and the Angel’s Walk Heritage Trail
Please review all my speaking topics to pick your favorite for me to present at your event.
Belmar History + Art project
Discussion of this multi-faceted education, inspirational and remembrance project reconstructs and reclaims the erased African American experience in Santa Monica’s history to amplify a broader societal understanding of this experience as part of our collective and diverse California coastal zone cultural heritage.
This talk could also include a discussion about: monuments development generally and how this relates to the BH+A project and heritage conservation issues; and/or the use of this history in new lesson plans developed to meet the California American Culture / Ethnic Studies and local frameworks and standards for elementary, middle and high schools.
Various talks around my book, Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era (University of Nebraska Press, 2020)
Overview talk about the book (or one about a specific site) and the California and American dream vision at the most popular sites associated with them (Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, Val Verde, Lake Elsinore, and the Parkridge Country Club).
This talk would also include a discussion of how this history influences contemporary life and consequences in public policy to do with beach access issues, heritage and nature conservation ideals.
African American community development in Santa Monica in the South Beach neighborhoods
Santa Monica’s Early African American Pioneers and their contribution to the development of the city’s vibrant and unique history
Phillips Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Santa Monica’s First African American Institutional Space and its Impact on the City’s Development
The History of the Somerville later known as the Dunbar Hotel When it was an Important Meeting Place for African American Life and Culture