Parade to Top List of Black History Events

SANTA ANA — Dispersed throughout Orange County, about 50,000 African Americans still manage to keep a cultural, if not geographical, closeness.

The one event that brings much of the black community together is the annual Black History Parade in Santa Ana, which will start Saturday at 10 a.m. at Broadway and 10th Street and end at Eddie West Stadium, where a cultural fair will take place.

“The parade, combined with the cultural fair, is the only large-scale event in Orange County where the African American community can come out and celebrate the culture,” said Wayne Snyder of Mission With Benevolence, which sponsors the parade.

The parade is the biggest single event of Black History Month in Orange County, but other observations around the county include art exhibits, dramatic and musical performances, film screenings and lectures.

Participating in the parade, Snyder said, will be floats from Disneyland and the U.S. Navy, as well as marching bands from Morningside and Inglewood high schools in Inglewood and Centennial High School in Compton.

Milton Grimes, the attorney for Rodney G. King, is scheduled to be the parade’s grand marshal, Snyder said.

Organizers said they invited Orange County high school bands to participate in the parade, but school officials said that their bands could not afford the transportation costs because of the county’s financial crisis, according to Snyder.

Begun 15 years ago, the parade was the idea of Helen Shipp, who at that time worked for the Santa Ana Parks Department. It faltered two years ago and was not presented because of a lack of funding, but new organizers brought it back last year.

“I felt it was important to show that we do make up part of this United States, and that in some senses we made this United States,” Shipp said.

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Here are other events planned for Black History Month:

* UC Irvine will host various events in its African Consciousness Quarter. Oh! Nii, a performer from Ghana, will make an African dance presentation at noon today at the Irvine Cross-Cultural Center. Also, a speaker will address African manhood at 6 p.m. Monday, and a lecture titled “Talk Justice Now!” will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 27, both at the Cross-Cultural Center. For a complete schedule of events, call (714) 824-2226.

Also, UCI will showcase African Americans’ contributions to science, technology and medicine in a library exhibit profiling inventors, scientists and physicians. Displays will be shown in the main library Feb. 1-24, and in the science library from Monday to March 3. Information: (714) 824-8515.

* The Orange County Black Historical Commission will hold its annual Black Exposition at the Tustin Community Center at 11 a.m. Feb. 25. The five-hour event will feature a fashion show, skits, live entertainment, gospel singers and vendors. Admission is free. Information: commission President Helen Shipp at (714) 547-6152.

* The Irvine Fine Arts Center in Heritage Park is presenting “In the Black” an exhibition about racial mythology, meaning and color, through Feb. 26. Organized by local artist Myrella Moses, the exhibit examines the concept of blackness as it applies both to definitions of race and the artistic idea of color. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

* The Irvine Valley College Forum Theatre, Building A300, will present “Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl,” a play based on Harriet Ann Jacob’s 1861 autobiography dramatizing one woman’s struggle against slavery, at 8 p.m. Friday and Feb. 10, 11 and 12, with matinees at 2 p.m. Sunday and Feb. 12. Cost is $7 and $8. Information: (714) 559-3333.

* The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana will present a variety of events, including three short films on the Yoruba tribe of Africa, a docent tour of the African exhibition “Icons of Power: Timeless Artworks From the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection,” and storytelling for children. Information: (714) 567-3600.

* As part of Pan Afrikan Heritage Month, Cal State Fullerton has scheduled a series of presentations in February and March, including “History as a Liberation Tool,” “Women, Minorities & the Family in Transition” and “The African American Male: An Endangered Species?” Information: (714) 773-3211.

* At Chapman University, there will be a re-enactment on campus Feb. 23 of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington. Other events at the university include “Java-n-Jazz,” an exhibition of African and Haitian painting with a backdrop of jazz music, on Feb. 16, and a gospel festival featuring church choirs and groups from Southern California on Feb. 25. Information: (714) 997-6607.

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Celebrating a Heritage A one-mile parade to kick off Black History Month begins at 10 a.m. Saturday in Santa Ana. A cultural fair will follow at 10:30 a.m. at Eddie West Stadium.

Parade Participants Grand Marshal: Attorney Milton Grimes. *

Dignitary: Santa Ana Mayor Miguel A. Pulido Jr. *

Floats: “Lion King” from Disneyland; “Unity” from Southern California Edison; U.S. Navy. *

Drill teams: From Orange County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley. *

Bands: From Centennial Inglewood and Morningside high schools. Source: MWB Foundation