Elegba Folklore Society

REAL Black Fridays Sale
2014-12-12, 2014-12-05 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
This year skip all of the traffic, lines, and mall madness and give your loved ones the gift of culture… Join Elegba Folklore Society for the REAL#BLACKFRIDAY, and pick up items such as– Fine African art, imports, and crafts– Beautiful clothing, jewlery, and accessories
– Incense, oils, and shea butter
– Holiday ornaments
– and much more

Ancestral Homage is a Key to Wholeness
2014-11-19 17:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building Courtyard, 1217 East Marshall Street, Richmond, 23298
In April 1994, human bones and artifacts from the 19th century were discovered in an abandoned well uncovered during construction on Virginia Commonwealth University’s MCV Campus. The well’s contents are believed to have been discarded in the 1800s by medical staff.
These humans, mainly of African descent, were not shown the respect they were due, neither in life nor in death. The university is committed to moving forward in a manner reflecting the dignity that should be accorded these individuals and has created the East Marshall Street Well Project to facilitate a process with the community that ensures the remains receive appropriate study, memorialization and reburial.
Virginia Commonwealth University and the East Marshall Street Well Planning Committee for an open house and ceremony Wednesday, November 19, 2014 from 5p to 7:30p.
Be a part of the Processional that Precedes Remarks at 5:30p.
Elegba Folklore Society’s Libation Ceremony at 6p.
Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building Courtyard
1217 East Marshall Street
Richmond, Virginia 23298
Valet parking available

Join a Tour
2014-11-08 09:30 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Join us on this Saturday, November 8th and experience the “In The Beginning… Virginia” tour. Journey into Richmond’s history to visit the sites where few monuments exist. Contact us at (804) 644-3900 for more details.

ĘLĘGBA FOLKLORE SOCIETY’S PERFORMERS PRESENT “A FIRE FOR FREEDOM" AT HENRICO’S HARVEST FESTIVAL
2014-10-18 13:45 - 16:00 | Meadow Farm, 3400 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, VA, 23060, United States
RICHMOND, VA • Ęlęgba Folklore Society’s performers will add a cultural history element to Henrico County’s October 18 Harvest Festival, with an original work, A Fire for Freedom, at Meadow Farm, 3400 Mountain Road, on Saturday, October 18 at 1:45p. The Society will give three consecutive presentations at The Barn. Admission is free.
Toussaint L’Ouverture changed the course of history.
In another sense, so did Patrick Henry.
And, then there was Gabriel.
He was a proud Black man, born into slavery but determined to be free.
At the age of 24, he organized what many historians consider the most extensive, well-planned attempt at a mass slave rebellion in U.S. history.
Every school child should know his story. There should be a statue of him on Virginia’s Capitol Square. Schools should be named after him. Bridges. Libraries. Cities.
Come to the area where he was enslaved, and see the plan unfold in A Free for Freedom.
A Fire for Freedom is an historical interpretation that chronicles the planning in August of 1800 of Gabriel’s Rebellion from the point of view of Gabriel and his cohorts. Families can attend and achieve a clearer understanding of the influences on and motivations for self determination, manhood and freedom from enslavement for all in Virginia in the setting where the planning occurred.
For more details call 804.644.3900.

African American Reflections on The Civil War (Dance Theatre)
2014-09-21 16:00 - 19:00 | Henrico Theatre, 305 E 9 Mile Rd, Highland Springs, VA, 23075, United States
Expect the “Wow” factor as you witness the lives and roles of Africans and Africa’s descendants unfold in this drama that informs and empowers. Music and dance punctuate the stories of the spirit and magic of Africa, conditions of enslavement, resistance, the Black Dispatches, United States Colored Troops, women in support, the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. 90 minutes with an intermission. An ensemble reading is also available.

Comments from the Audience:
“Very thorough.”
“It was amazing how so much information could be presented in 90 minutes. I and my grandchildren were engaged throughout.”

ELEGBA FOLKLORE SOCIETY TO APPEAR IN CURTAINS UP! AT RICHMOND CENTERSTAGE
2014-09-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Carpenter Theatre, 600 E Grace St #400, Richmond, 23219, United States
Richmond, VA • Elegba Folklore Society’s widely acclaimed African dancers, drummers and singers will appear at Richmond CenterStage in a one-night-only special event entitled Curtains Up! to be held at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 14 at Richmond CenterStage in the historic Carpenter Theatre.
The Society’s exciting performers will present Tambour de Guinée. Among West Africa’s Manding, Tambour de Guinée (jen nay) affirms that a woman’s mystique is expressed in both femininity and power. This piece was choreographed by Guinea, West Africa’s Kadiatou Conte (kay dee ah too cohn tay) and features West African master artists, Mito Camara of Guinea and Fode Sissoko of Senegal.
The evening is a kick off the performing arts season and will feature the best that Richmond has to offer through the talents and artistic excellence of CenterStage’s resident companies, including Elegba Folklore Society, Henley Street Theatre & Richmond Shakespeare, Richmond Ballet, Richmond Symphony, School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC), Virginia Opera and Virginia Repertory Theatre. The City Dance Theatre will also perform.
Attendees can come early for a pre-event gathering beginning at 5:00 p.m. in Rhythm Hall to learn more about Elegba Folklore Society’s upcoming programs and ways to get involved with the organization.
Tickets can be purchased at RichmondCenterStage.com, by phone at1-800-514-ETIX (3849) or at the CenterStage box office, located at 6th Street between Broad and Grace streets in downtown Richmond. Ticket prices begin at $25 for adults and $12 for children 15 and under. Ticket proceeds go to Richmond CenterStage in support of its resident companies.
About Elegba Folklore Society:
Elegba, from the Yoruba cosmology of West Africa, is an Orisa or intercessor who opens the roads, bringing clarity out of confusion. The Elegba Folklore Society is a year-round, lively celebration of African and African-American culture. Enjoy art and imports in our cultural center. Sway with our performance company in the warmth and feel of an African village. Awaken your spirit! Or, participate in a guided heritage tour, In the Beginning… Virginia, Along the Trail of Enslaved Africans and Other Notable Sites. The Capital City Kwanzaa Festival, Down Home Family Reunion, A Celebration of African American Folk Life, and Juneteenth: A Freedom Celebration are events that have delighted audiences during our 24 years. Richmond’s Cultural Ambassador, the Society offers the best in African Diasporic cultural experiences, promoting an understanding of the present by valuing the past. The Society hopes its programs and services are, indeed, road-opening experiences. Embrace the Spirit!

MASTER CLASSES • MASTER ARTISTS SATURDAY
2014-09-13 12:00 - 15:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
This Saturday’s The African Drum Workshop and African Dance & Cultural Traditions will feature Master Artists,
Senegal’s Fode Sissoko
and
Guinea’s Mamadouba Mito Camara.
Join us to play, dance or just be in the moment! Classes begin at noon on September 13.

Dance & Drumming Classes Resuming for the Fall Season with a Free Open House!!!
2014-09-06 11:00 - 14:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
What a busy and exciting summer we had! Now as the Fall season approaches, we would like to share with you the opportunity to join in on our African dance classes that take place in our Cultural Center on a weekly basis. Since this is official beginning to our Fall sessions, we would like to invite you to join in on a FREE lesson. All ages and skill levels welcome!
The African Drum Workshop, 11a
African Dance & Cultural Traditions
September 6, Free today as fall sessions begin
Buy 4 & get the 5th class free

RVA as Seen Through the Pinhole
2014-09-05 17:00 - 2014-12-04 17:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Richmond, VA • RVA as Seen Through the Pinhole will open as a part of the First Friday’s ArtWalk, 5p – 9p on Friday, September 5 at Ęlęgba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 East Broad Street in the downtown RVA arts district at the corner of 1st and Broad. This exhibition of black and white photographs will be available through November 30. The artist, James W. Draper, Jr., produced the photographs using the techniques of pinhole photography.
RVA as Seen Through the Pinhole is a series of photographs depicting scenes around Richmond. This series demonstrates the artist’s fascination with the light tight box or camera obscura and its potential. Says Draper, “The pinhole camera is unconventional photography that challenges the analog in me. The pinhole gives me freedom to go beyond traditional photography.” Because the camera obscura functions like a projector or like a recorder, it can support creativity in the pinhole artist by producing unique images and ideas.
A pinhole camera and imagery to record will be included in the exhibition, and visitors to the cultural center can try it out.
Historically, and according to pinhole expert and enthusiast Anita Chernewski, the image-forming ability of a tiny hole is thought to have been known thousands of years ago by nomadic people of North Africa, who lived in animal skin tents. A pinhole in the tent would project an image of the brilliant scene outside. The pinhole photographic work of Afro Canadian artist Melinda Mollineaux commemorates the forgotten place of Cadboro Bay, where Black people gathered to celebrate Emancipation Day in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Photographer, Draper, with a Masters Degree from Virginia State University, is a retired educator in Richmond Public Schools. He has been a member of the Camera Club of Richmond, National Conference of Artists and the Virginia Educational Media Association, among others. He has taught photography at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, and he has served as a staff photographer at Richmond Free Press.
Draper has exhibited widely around Virginia, and he has received numerous awards and honors in the field.

24th Annual Down Home Family Reunion August 16, 2014 (Family Festival)
2014-08-16 16:00 - 23:00 | Abner Clay Park, Brook Road and West Clay Street, Richmond, 23219, United States
Elegba Folklore Society Presents the 24th Annual Down Home Family Reunion, A Celebration of African American Folklife
This year’s theme is “Soul Connections”
Down Home Family Reunion, A Celebration of African American Folklife, is a weekend festival of world music and dance, a Heritage Market, children’s events — often powered by the children, themselves — interactive site demonstrations & down home healthy food. This is one of the Society’s original programs created in 1990 to connect aspects of West African cultural traditions with African Americans & to show their influence on the American South. Bringing the world home, audiences are exposed to the artistic expressions — performing and material – of African world cultures in a lively, colorful and informing celebration of heritage and light.
_____________________________________________
Saturday, 8/16, Family Festival
Abner Clay Park, 4p – 11p
Historic Jackson Ward
Downtown
Tickets:
VIP $35 for 1, $65 for 2
Featuring:
Ray, Goodman & Brown
Nathan & The Zydeco Cha-Chas
Proverbs Reggae Band
Elegba Folklore Society
The Winner of the New School Talent Contest (TBA)
VIP Seating includes:
☀ Comfortable Chairs in the Gold Circle
☀ Service of Your Favorite Foods & Beverages
☀ Onstage Meet & Greet with the Festival’s Headliner,
Ray, Goodman & Brown
☀ Photograph of Headliner for Autographing
You can also enjoy:
Heritage Market
Interactive Site Demos
New School Pavilion

24th Annual Down Home Family Reunion August 15, 2014 (Opening Night)
2014-08-15 18:00 - 22:00 | DoubleTree Hotel, 301 W Franklin St, Richmond, Richmond, 23220, United States
Elegba Folklore Society Presents the 24th Annual Down Home Family Reunion, A Celebration of African American Folklife
This year’s theme is “Soul Connections”
Down Home Family Reunion, A Celebration of African American Folklife, is a weekend festival of world music and dance, a Heritage Market, children’s events — often powered by the children, themselves — interactive site demonstrations & down home healthy food. This is one of the Society’s original programs created in 1990 to connect aspects of West African cultural traditions with African Americans & to show their influence on the American South. Bringing the world home, audiences are exposed to the artistic expressions — performing and material – of African world cultures in a lively, colorful and informing celebration of heritage and light.
_____________________________________________
Friday, 8/15, Opening Night
DoubleTree Hotel, 6p – 10p
Downtown
Tickets:
$15 for 1, $25 for 2
Featuring:
Toby Foyeh & Orchestra Africa
Comedian, Grave Digger
Elegba Folklore Society
Heritage Market
Complimentary Hors D’Oeuvres
Cash Bar

Élégba Folklore Society's performers present African Dance, Music & the Oral Tradition -- where art meets life.
2014-07-10 20:30 - 22:00 | Dogwood Dell, 6000 N. Boulevard, Richmond, 23220, United States
We are saving a seat for you in our audience! Bring a chair, a candle and good vibrations to Dogwood Dell this Thursday, July 10 at 8:30p in Byrd Park. Elegba Folklore Society’s performers present African Dance, Music & the Oral Tradition — where art meets life.
6000 N. Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23220 Free

Juneteenth 2014, A Freedom Celebration - Esu Festival
2014-06-22 13:00 - 17:00 | African Burial Ground, Broad and 15th Streets, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Sunday, June 22
Esu Festival
African Burial Ground • 1p – 5p • Free
Ile Ise Ejiogbe Ifá Temple guides Esu Festival’s ceremony and rituals for healing and ancestral veneration. Free.

Juneteenth 2014, A Freedom Celebration - In Reflection
2014-06-21 16:00 - 23:00 | Manchester Dock, 139 Virginia Street, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Saturday, June 21
In Reflection
Manchester Dock • 4p – 11p • Free
Performances, speakers, Esu Festival Market Day in the Freedom Market, children’s activities, Annual Torch Lit Night Walk Along the Trail of Enslaved Africans. Free

Juneteenth 2014, A Freedom Celebration - The Symposium
2014-06-20 18:00 - 22:00 | Pine Camp Arts Center, 4901 Old Brook Rd, Richmond, VA, 23227, United States
Friday, June 20
The Symposium
Pine Camp Arts Center • 6p – 10p • $10
Dr. Umar Johnson, Psychologist, Author & Expert on the Education of Afrikan American Children
Ęlęgba Folklore Society’s African Dancers and Drummers
Live Jazz with Sketches.
Esu Festival begins.
Complimentary hors d’oeuvres, Freedom Market.

Tickets are moving fast so purchase your tickets in advance: here

Juneteenth 2014, A Freedom Celebration - Lira In Concert @ The Hippodrome Theatre
2014-06-19 19:00 - 23:00 | Hippodrome Theatre, 528 N 2nd St., Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Thursday, June 19
Lira In Concert
Hippodrome Theatre • 7p- 11p • $20
Lira, Platinum Selling South African Singer blends R&B, jazz & African styles.
This is her US debut album release, Rise Again.
Essence Magazine’s one of “Five Unique Artists To Change Music in 2012”
Hosted by Jarrard Anthony, Virginia Black Music Foundation

Tickets are moving fast so purchase yours in advance: here

In the Beginning… Virginia, Along the Trail of Enslaved Africans
2014-04-26 13:30 - 17:30
Join us on theTrail on April 26. This time the organizer is the Remembering Slavery, Resistance and Freedom Project. How should we address the legacies of slavery? Events and exhibits have, according to the project, been occurring to “commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation by revealing the enormous influence free and enslaved Africans and, later [sic] African-Americans have had on Virginia. While sites related to African-American labor, life, struggle, and resilience are numerous in Virginia, many state residents and visitors are unaware of these sites and the history they represent.”

Heritage Tours - Civil War & Emancipation Day
2014-04-12 09:30 - 22:00
Elegba Folklore Society’s informing and affirming cultural history tour, In the Beginning… Virginia, Along the Trail of Enslaved Africans is sought after as a not-to-be-missed life experience. Normally a group tour by reservation, twice in April this program is being offered free for the public. Walk in our ancestors footsteps in torch light to culminate Civil War & Emancipation Day on Saturday April 12.

See more here:
http://www.timesdispatch.com/entertainment-life/weddings-celebrations/features/civil-war-emancipation-day/article_1217bcde-ab87-11e3-a71d-0017a43b2370.html

African Root, American Fruit: Paintings & Collages by Ronald Jackson (Meet and Greet During the First Friday's ArtWalk)
2014-04-04 17:00 - 21:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Happy Spring! (Maybe?)
Let’s Celebrate!
Visit Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center during the First Fridays ArtWalk
Friday, April 4, 5 – 9p
Still Going – African Root, American Fruit: Paintings & Collages by Ronald Jackson
Meet the artist who will be painting in the gallery.
The art is stunning! If you haven’t seen the show yet, do yourself a favor. Begin a collection or add to one!

Open Tuesday – Friday, Noon – 6; Saturday, Noon – 4 & by appointment
story1@efsinc.org, 804.644.3900

Genworth Lights Up! Open House / Craft Making Workshop
2014-03-22 13:00 - 15:00 | Richmond Centerstage, 600 E Grace St, Richmond, 23219, United States
Genworth Lights Up! Open House http://www.richmondcenterstage.com/lightsup

Saturday, March 22

The Cowtail Switch
The Horsetail or Cowtail or Cowtail Switch is a symbol of power, order, status and influence in several African societies. It can also perform functional tasks as a fly whisk or a story whisk. Make your own and discover the magic of your own story! Two sessions — 1p & 2p, Ages 5 & up. Richmond Centerstage, Room 3137

BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT
2014-02-22 15:00 - 17:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
On Saturday, February 22 at 3:00pm, Elegba Folklore Society will show the documentary February One in its cultural center, 101 E Broad St, in the downtown RVA Arts District. This program is free and open to the public. It accompanies the current exhibition, African Root, American Fruit: Paintings and Collages by Ronald Jackson, which opened on February 7 and will run through April 30. The exhibition and accompanying programs are a part of the Richmond visual arts collaboration Race, Place & Identity.
This story of the Greensboro Four chronicles the four A&T College freshmen (now North Carolina A&T State University) in their decision to integrate the lunch counter at the downtown F. W. Woolworth store on February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina. This act launched the sit-in movement which blazed like a fire through the parched, segregated south and was led by students. Students at Richmond’s Virginia Union University, for example, followed soon after on February 11, 1960 to sit-in at Thalhimer’s Department Store. These individual and collective acts changed the nation.
Greensboro’s Woolworth’s is now the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.

African Root, American Fruit: Paintings & Collages by Ronald Jackson
2014-02-07 17:00 - 2014-03-29 18:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Race, Place & Identity

At the Crossroads: Black Males + Race, Place & Identity
2014-01-20 18:00 - 21:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Elegba Folklore Society is pleased to be among the eight Richmond, Virginia-based arts and cultural organizations partnering to facilitate community-wide conversations inspired by their respective exhibitions and programs that focus on civil rights and social justice beginning in January, 2014.
Elegba Folklore Society is hosting two exhibitions in its Cultural Center that are a part of the collaboration. The first is Body As Art that runs now through January 31. In this series of black-and-white photographs, Thierry Laurence manipulates light, shadow, and water to express an artistic essence of the black male body. An interpretive conversation will accompany this exhibition on King Day, January 20 at 6p.

At the Crossroads: Black Males + Race, Place & Identity
VCU African American Studies Professor Derrick Lanois
King Day, January 20, 6p

Attendees can join a conversation surrounding body + place politics of African American men in the 21st century. Using Thierry Laurence’s photography in Body as Art, the complexities that are facing African American men in today’s society whether social, cultural, artistic, and/or political will be explored. The journey to understand the dynamic and ever changing conditions has to be rooted in history and begin with a discussion of place and identity in Africa prior to enslavement, and currently, then spanning the timeline through and forward to a look at place and identity as expressed in hip hop. Do African American men have a place and identity that is honored, as our cultural DNA and protocols mandate, valued, nurtured and understood or do they serve as the poster child of what is wrong today—criminal, uneducated, shiftless and to be feared/ignored? Professor Derrick Lanois will facilitate this King Day discussion to help us see what has happened historically to “place” African American men in the current dialogue and how to shift the conversation.

On February 7, the Society’s second exhibition in the collaboration, African Root, American Fruit: Paintings by Ronald Jackson, will open with a reception from 5p – 9p during the First Fridays Artwalk. Ronald Jackson paints portraits and figurative works to comment on the identity of African American people and their influence on the landscape of American society. He will give a gallery talk.

Culture, Art and Social Messaging
Artist, Ronald Jackson
February 7, 6p

Jackson will give a talk on the significance of art in African American culture and expound on the implication of his artwork and experience. The evening will also feature a remembrance of the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth lunch counter sit-ins which began on February 1, 1960.
Details: 804.644.3900 or story1@efsinc.org. Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center is open Tuesday – Friday, Noon – 6p, Saturday, Noon – 4p and by appointment. Gallery tours are available by reservation.

Among the Yoruba, Elegba is the Orisa or intercessor who guards the crossroads and who opens the roads, bringing clarity out of confusion.

We hope our programs and services are, indeed, road-opening experiences.

Embrace the Spirit!

BODY AS ART - PHOTOGRAPHY BY THIERRY LAURENCE
2013-11-01 17:00 - 2014-01-31 21:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Body As Art opens at Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center on Friday, November 1 as a part of the 1st Fridays ArtWalk, 5 – 9p.
This series of black and white photographs manipulates light, dark and water to express an artistic essence of the male body as seen through the eye of Thierry Laurence. In his edgy portraitures, Laurence shows photography as “extension of my artistic expressions as a actor, dancer, singer and writer. When I have a camera in hand, I want to capture the moments where shadows give way to light and allow us to see.” Through January 31.

ARTisan Cafe
2013-06-08 18:00 - 22:00 | The Observation Deck of City Hall, 900 E Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Come see Elegba Folklore Society at the ARTisan Café on Saturday, June 8. Be the first to browse and buy our summer collection of art and imports. Get your unique piece of Mali mudcloth or Maasai jewelry. Wear your culture! Select Kuba Cloth from the Congo to adorn your home or choose the hottest summer fashions from Ghana. Pamper yourself with our Black Love Shea Butter, Whipped Cocoa Butter, Black Soap and Essential Body Oils. Hmmm… Enlighten your mind with books! Buy your tickets for Juneteenth 2013, A Freedom Celebration‘s Friday night event featuring our beloved scholar Anthony T. Browder presented Django Deconstructed, relevant spoken word with the iconic The Last Poets and, of course, Elegba Folklore Society’s soul-stirring African dancers and drummers! Tickets discounted for ARTisan Café patrons.

MALCOLM X DAY BLACK BOOK EXPOSITION
2013-05-18 10:00 - 2013-05-19 18:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
ELEGBA FOLKLORE SOCIETY & UBUS BOOKS & THINGS
Present
MALCOLM X DAY BLACK BOOK EXPOSITION
Saturday, May 18 – Sunday, May 19 ◉ Richmond, Virginia

UBUS and Elegba Folklore Society are combining forces to present the largest Black Literature Expo of the century. After years of breakdowns in plans, by others, to put the Capital City of Richmond, Virginia on the Black Books Map, arguably the largest, most effective cultural organization is connecting to, perhaps, the largest Black publisher in the history of Black people to get the job done.

The Exposition will feature a vast, awesome display of Black literature. It will feature must-haves, Carter G. Woodson’s MisEducation of the Negro and Elijah Muhammad’s Message to the Blackman to Ivan Van Sertima’s Before the Mayflower and The Souls of Black Folk. This classic by W. E. B. DeBois may well sound of the theme, as Black writers, publisher and distributors come to Richmond for the Malcolm X Day Expo. Attendees can also choose from a variety of novels and children’s books.

This book event happens from 10a – 8p on Saturday and 2p – 6p on Sunday at Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, downtown in the RVA Arts District at 101 East Broad Street (corner of 1st & Broad). Live jazz and refreshments will spice the Malcolm X Day Black Book Exposition on Saturday evening.

Celebrity Guest Authors will make presentations at the Exposition, and there will be Independent Black Writers. These writers will come, for the most part, from the publishing house of UBUS.

All Black writers are respectfully invited to send books to be sold at the Expo, or attend and participate.

Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond’s Cultural Ambassador, was founded by Sister Omilade Janine Bell, whose signature spectacular career as a cultural artist, folklorist and producer was the springboard used to form the Society in 1990. Elegba Folklore Society is known worldwide for its three annual cultural festivals, dance theatre and music performing and teaching programs, cultural history tours along the Trail of Enslaved Africans and other notable sites and exhibits of African Diasporic art in its cultural center. www.efsinc.org

United Brothers and United Sisters Communications Systems was founded by H. Khalif Khalifah in Harlem, New York in 1975. A Master Printer, Khalifah has plied his trade into the publication of more than 600 different titles. Fundamentally, he is the catalyst that reconstructed the book buying habits of Black people. Without a marketplace to receive his and his colleagues’ publications, he built and grew a comprehensive Black Book Industry.

UBUS has promoted and sponsored dozens of national book events, published Your Black Books Guide and has presented the Black Book Achievement Awards for Excellence in Black Literature in 19 installments on the first weekend of June. This event has happened in recent years at The Nat Turner Library in Southampton County. www.black-e-books.com

Among the Yoruba, Elegba is the Orisa who opens the roads, bringing clarity our of confusion. We hope our programs and services are, indeed, road-opening experiences. Embrace the Spirit!

THE ELEVATION OF THE QUEEN MOTHERS - April 5th through April 30th
2013-04-05 10:00 - 2013-04-30 17:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Come behold a new gallery exhibit at Elegba Folklore Society giving honor to the Ancestral Queen Mothers of RVA.
THE ELEVATION OF THE QUEEN MOTHERS is presented by Ms. Maat Free and The Guardians of African Ancestral Remembrance in RVA. Photo Credits: Patience Salgado.
This exhibit is interactive. You will be able to sit down and craft an altar card to establish a sacred space within your own home. Bring your family and your friends.
The Guardians for African Ancestral Remembrance in RVA were inspired to perform the elevation ceremony in March 2013 because that is International Womens History Month.
The exhibit features a collection of photographs depicting a celebration to honor the mighty women of RVA from our earliest known African Ancestral Mother, Queen Mother Betsy all the way up to the last to make her transition, our Beloved Queen Mother Joyce Branch.
Learn these women’s stories, seek guidance from their collective wisdom. Gain insight about the age-old practice of Ancestor Veneration and lifting up the names of those with impeccable character and strength, upon whose shoulders we stand.
Group Ancestral Remembrance workshops can be arranged.
For more information please call 804 564 6163 or send your email inquiries to oracle@myclearpeople.com
VIsit us on the web at www.MYCLEARPEOPLE.com

[Exhibition] Africa in Portraits - On exhibit through June 30th
2013-04-01 10:00 - 2013-06-30 17:00 | Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23219, United States
Africa in Portraits
Africa in Portraits is the exhibit in Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 E Broad St, corner of 1st & Broad in the downtown Arts District. The exhibition runs through June 30.
Africa in Portraits features the paintings and print of Joseph Harris’. He has been an artist since he learned how to hold a pencil in his hand. He evolved from drawing to painting throughout his primary school years, and he developed his craft to become a competitive award winner. Joseph Harris is certified in Commercial Art from The Art Instruction School in Minneapolis, Minnesota and in Fine Art from The Brookline Institute in Anaheim, California. He currently resides in Richmond.
