Black August Community Arts Festival

In the Ida B. Wells Plaza on Capitol Street, Cooperation Jackson held it’s annual Community Arts Festival to celebrate Black August.

Saki Hall states, “We are celebrating in the month of August something that’s called Black August which is a commemoration and celebration of resistance and the struggle for freedom for African people throughout the African diaspora.”

Black August originated during the 1970’s in the California penal system. Its a celebration of Africans and African Americans national struggle for justice and liberation and those who fought and died for freedom.

Saki Hall continues, “One of the things I like to say, If we would have chose our own month we would have chosen August rather than February. Not only because February is the shortest month of the year but because, August actually has a lot of history ranging from the March on Washington happened in August, Nat Turner’s rebellion was in August, dating all the way back to like 1804 the Haitian Revolution when African who were enslaved rebelled and actually won there own independence and their independent country began in August.”

The two day festival offers more than just art but, free food, information, fresh locally grown produce, and family friendly fun.

Saki Hall adds, “We had artwork that young people did. Little people learned about recycling and incorporated recycled items into art pieces, we had a jump house,we had DJ’s, had lots and lots of meat that we’ve been barbecuing.”