Community members gathered at Eureka’s Halvorsen Park this Saturday afternoon to celebrate Black culture and commemorate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in honor of Juneteenth. 

Mo Harper-Desir, co-founder of Black Humboldt, appeared via Zoom and thanked the board for both the Juneteenth and the LGBTQIA+ proclamations and urged its members to “step into actions” that create inclusivity and safety for marginalized communities.

Mo Harper-Desir from Black Humboldt sits in for an overview of the plans for Juneteenth 2023.

The exhibition My Black Is ... centralizes Black and brown bodies in an academic institutional gallery setting, a context that can be dominated by white people, and presents an array of media, styles, energies and messages.

Artists and craftspeople across Humboldt County can begin to submit grant applications from now until Nov. 1 for the 2022 Victor Thomas Jacoby Award which includes $10,000 in funding. Last years recipients included scientific illustrator and painter Sawn Gould, multimedia artist Mo Harper-Desir, and educator, photographer and experimental painter Marceau Verdiere.

Black Humboldt founder Dionna Fletcher and co-founder Mo Harper-Desir announce in collaboration the 2020 Juneteenth celebration

“Art on the Fence” showcases the work of Octavio Acosta, Tannyce Bunch, Cora Dandeneau, Monique Harper-Desir, Courtney Jamison, Veenadari Lakshika Jayakody, Halla Kramer, Mickey Montgomery, Xóchitl Cabrera-Sanchez, Aundrea “All’Love” Stuckey, Amy Uyeki, Nikki Valencia and Mykia Washington.