Over the course of our 4 day innaugural #MoreThanAMonth Juneteenth festival, approximately 1000 people joined in the festivities as our grassroots outreach grows and cultural programming expands. Thank you for choosing to celebrate Juneteenth with PGAAMCC. In the footsteps of our great heroes that paved the way we honored their legacy and dedication to uplifting our Black communities. We sang, we danced, we cried, we uplifted and we shared. We are ‘A Home for Black Excellence’. Our More Than a Month Festival highlighted the brilliance, talent and creativity of our African American community in Prince George’s County and the DMV. Special thanks to our program partners; Jess Be Creative, Creators Coallition, Onustees, participating artists, and our vendors. See more pictures here.

UStreet to the Cotton Club x Black Culture Panel Discussion

We brought the U Street to the Cotton Cub to Prince George’s County. Local talents, Krislynn Perry, Nigel Rowe and Reenie Codelka on piano played hit tunes, such as: Minnie The Moocher, I’ve Got The World on A String, Stormy Weather, Ain’t Misbehavin’ & More!

We also enjoyed a panel discussion on the importance of Black holidays and Black traditions, Black education and its connection to our tradition, history, and liberation, educational equity in schools. The ‘For the Culture’ conversation moderated by Tamara Jade with Andre Taylor, Elena Branker, Jahari Shelton, Marcus Cook, Jessica Randolph, Billy Sanders & Tony Keith.

The Observable Universe

Our Observable Universe panel discussion, moderated by Sinatra Smith, was an intimate conversation about time travel, returning to the motherland and Black music as a connective force across time and space. In this disucssion we collectively illustrated an alternate universe, how we would function, what parts of our culture we would bring, which parts would be left out, and why.

We also enjoyed the DMV Youth Art Pop Up gallery ‘Voices’ with EYL 365 Project teaching artists, students and collaborative projects. ‘Voices’ displayed work from “Enjoy Your Life” (EYL) 365, a grass-roots art project whose mission is to engage youth by exploring the creative process as they grow to understand society, their roles within it, and their capacity to change society through civic youth engagement, advocacy and arts initiatives. The artwork centered on mental health, community, social, and economic empowerment and self reflection.

Summer Solstice Fashion Show

Thursday was a day of Black beauty, creativity and expression.  Our fashion show featured artist Quest Skinner who brought vibrant, colorful, decadent, and transformative designs to PGAMCC. Her style is “influenced by seeing ourselves as a full spectrum of colors, shapes, and spirits. The clothing collection is West African, Apache, and modern infused fabrics with lines that flatter all shapes and sizes”.

We were so happy to have dancers in our space. We enjoyed a performance by Alexis Miller with dancers Faith Kelly, Jasmine Ventura, and Marya Wallace from Dance Institute of Washington. They performed to a song remixed to Maya Angelou’s Ain’t I A Woman that empowered our audience’s.

Block Party

Photos by: Rodney Norman of @laphoric

Our culminating event was our Block Party. Program partners Onustees, Jess Be Creative and Creators Coalition brought dynamic performances and panelists to our space. We had workshops and incredible vendors. PGAAMCC was buzzing with activity. Inside our gallery we had a pop-up exhibition by EYL 365 and our Community Treasure Chest. Community Treasure Chest will continue all summer, register HERE. Outside we had fun for all ages with a Dino sprinkler, jump ropes, double dutch, sidewalk chalk, bouncing balls, face painting and the I’m Bookd Box mobile book store. We were so honored to close out the day with a special performance by Mosaic Theater Singers hailing from Detroit Michigan. They graced our space with vibrant songs of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, gospel, African hymns and hit music from every genre influenced by the African Diaspora. Black History and culture never looked so good at PGAAMCC.

Thank you so much for being a supporter. We are excited to bring more dynamic programming to Prince George’s County, illuminate, inspire and empower audiences. Stay tuned for more!

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