Here are ways to celebrate Black History Month in Oak Park

Locals looking to celebrate Black History Month, honoring the achievements and adversity faced by generations of African Americans, can attend library- and village-sponsored events.

Black History Month, from Feb. 1 to March 1, is annually observed as a way to lift up Black people’s significant culture and past. Local Black artists, however, told Wednesday Journal that Black history and work shouldn’t just be honored and elevated in February, but year-round.

This year, Oak Parkers can view works by artists Tia Etu, Antonia Ruppert, and Hasani Cannon on display at the Oak Park Public Library’s Idea Box from Feb. 3 to 28. Photographer Howard Simmons’ exhibit “Stories My Camera Tells” is in the library gallery until Feb. 22.

The library will also be showing films related to Black history on Feb. 20 and 27. And the Village of Oak Park is hosting its third annual Black History Month Celebration on Feb. 8, featuring speakers, performances and refreshments.

Idea Box

Etu, Ruppert and Cannon, three local Black artists, have their work showcased at the Oak Park library, 834 Lake St. Visitors can see their art from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 5, from noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 9, from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 13, from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 18 and from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 25.

“We are honored to be able to share the work of these amazing local artists this Black History Month and to provide opportunities for people to engage with them,” Kristen Romanowski, the library’s communications writer and editor, told Wednesday Journal.

Etu said she has a few pieces on display related to Black history. One is an acrylic canvas, inspired by a Black archival book that showed workers harvesting tobacco. Another is a pencil drawing of Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States. And another is a printed version of a mural she did.

“The print is called ‘In Her Father’s Shoes,’ and she just reaches out to people,” Etu said, adding that the girl is skipping along showing people that while life can be a rough ride, she’s getting through it. People can relate to that message of overcoming struggle, Etu said.

Ruppert said her work typically relates to community, stories or relationships. The past few months, she’s been working on an archive of her family’s history. Her acrylic and oil paintings on display at the library are called “Innocence of the Brethren,” “The Masters Touch,” and “Autumn Fellowship.”

“I want people to understand that the individuals who I painted are worthy of their respect and honor simply because they’re there,” she said.

Ruppert has also been working with video to showcase interviews and oral history of African Americans. In one project for a North Austin library, she interviewed individuals about why they came to the area, some looking for security or some for family. They’re proud of their homes and community, she said.

“It’s important for African Americans to see themselves showcased in cultural institutions,” Ruppert said. “If you never see yourself, it’s like you don’t exist.”

Cannon, born and raised in Oak Park, said his passion for art is innate, but fostered by community. His mother is an African and Caribbean dancer, and his influence partially comes from that culture. He does mix media work, specializing in Afro-centric imagery.

“Artists of color have a long-standing relationship with the arts,” he said. “Artistic institutions tend to highlight or focus more on white artists, [but] I think, especially nowadays, there’s even more incentive and more of a drive to show that artists of color have been and will always have a place in art.”

“For Black artists, so much of our identity is tied to struggle, and not being taken seriously,” he said. “Our artwork, it’s almost exploding with just so much information on how it is to be just a human being in general, but your humanity is simultaneously denied.”

“[I want to] remind us as Black people that we have so much potential and that we have so much joy and love within us,” he added. “While society and the world continuously dehumanizes us … this power is always within us.”

“Stories My Camera Tells”

About 30 photos from Simmons’ years of work in photography will be on display in this exhibit. Simmons was the second Black photographer at the Chicago Sun-Times. He also worked for Ebony Magazine, traveled the world, and did commercial work, shooting for companies like Coca-Cola and Kellogg.

The photographer raised his children in Oak Park. He said his family, once known as the “Black Brady Bunch” family among locals, is the most important part of his life.

One of his most iconic shots, currently on display, is of a Mississippi baby. The photo, which Simmons said “took him” rather than him taking it, is of a baby in raggedy diapers between worn wooden frames.

“It’s sad that AI is going to destroy some aspects of photography, particularly commercial,” he said. “[But] they can’t replace journalism.”

From 2 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 8, visitors can attend a reception with Simmons. And from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 16 the library will host an artist talk with Simmons and Lee Bey, a Black writer, architectural critic and member of the Sun-Times editorial board.

“Black history is every day,” Simmons said. “There are things we encounter, there are things that we see and feel every day, all day.”

At 7 p.m. Feb. 27, the library will screen and discuss “Farming While Black,” a documentary about Black farmers in the United States.