2024 Black History Month Events


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 31, 2024

CONTACT: Juneteenth Santa Barbara, juneteenthsbc@gmail.com 

Black History: More than a Month

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CA - In honor of Black History Month, Santa Barbara County Black/African Americans invite all to celebrate the historical achievements that Black/African Americans have made in our region. Although the national theme is “African Americans and the Arts” at the County level, the community chose the theme of “Black History: More Than A Month” to celebrate and educate our region on the local and magnanimous achievements of Black/African Americans.  

“Learning our history, especially local history, is important to the strength and development of our region,” shared local entertainer Vivian Storm. “This year's events help to bridge that understanding and honoring our past while nurturing our future.”

Events in 2024 will be in person and virtual (online). Santa Barbara County Community organizations providing events include Gateway Educational Services, Healing Justice Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Black Culture House, NAACP Santa Maria - Lompoc, and more. Check out the calendar of events below and at JuneteenthSB.org. 

“Our community and our leaders work very hard to incorporate the culture and histories of African-Americans in our region into everyday life,” said Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, President of the NAACP Santa Maria-Lompoc chapter. “It is about providing safe, inclusive, and educational spaces to unite community members, not divide, so we can collectively understand, heal, and grow.” 

Some Black History Month events have become traditions, while new events have popped up this year. Santa Barbara Black Culture House returns in 2024 with a lineup of FREE events every weekend (Saturdays and Sundays, except for the Superbowl on 2/11/24) at 1 pm at Soul Bites on Lower State Street in Santa Barbara. Additionally, the NAACP of Santa Maria-Lompoc has planned its events in Lompoc (Sunday, 2/18) and Santa Maria (Saturdays, 2/17 and 2/24), respectively. 

A new event called Black is Beautiful Gala & Fundraiser hosted by Healing Justice Santa Barbara aims to raise funds for St. Paul AME Church, Juneteenth Santa Barbara, the newly named Sojourner Kincaid Rolle Youth Artivism Scholarship, and the Community Emergency Needs Fund. Purchase tickets for Friday, 2/23, at the Hilton Beachfront Resort in Santa Barbara. 

“We are so proud to create community at our upcoming, the 'Black is Beautiful Gala and Fundraiser,’ a celebration of Black talent and resilience while raising crucial funds to support Black organizations within the Santa Barbara community like Juneteenth,” said Cofounder Simone Ruskamp. “It was important for us also to pay tribute to our late Elder Sojourner Kincaid Rolle and help support our ongoing Community Emergency Needs Fund, as it has supported several community members in the last four years.” 

Juneteenth Santa Barbara (JSB) brings together Black/African-American-led organizations to continue the tradition of providing Black History Month (BHM) events in February and year-round in Santa Barbara County. Locally, there has been an ongoing effort led by JSB that brings Black/African-American-led organizations together for continued communication and connection. An outcome of this five-year effort is coordinating Black/African-American events to uplift the joy, accomplishments, challenges, and successes of local Black/African-American individuals.

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Government Recognition 

The County of Santa Barbara, cities in Santa Barbara County, and school boards across the county have scheduled official acknowledgments of Black History Month in February 2023).


  • Allan Hancock College - Black History Month Celebration - Wednesday, 2/28/24, from 12-1:30 PM at Allan Hancock College Student Center

  • City of Carpinteria - Monday, 1/22/24 at 5:30 PM at Carpinteria City Hall

  • City of Goleta - Tuesday, 2/6/24 at 5:30 PM at Goleta City Hall

  • City of Lompoc - Tuesday, 2/20/24, at Lompoc City Hall

  • City of Santa Barbara - Tuesday, 2/6/24, at Santa Barbara City Hall

  • Santa Barbara City College - Thursday, 1/18/24, at 5 PM SBCC Main Campus

  • City of Santa Maria - Tuesday, 2/6/24, at Santa Maria City Hall

  • City of Solvang - Monday, 1/22/24, at Solvang City Hall

  • County of Santa Barbara - Tuesday, 2/6/24 at 9 am at the Santa Barbara County Administration Building in Santa Barbara

About the Community Organizations 

Gateway Educational Services was established in 2009 by educators, business professionals, and community leaders passionate about changing access to education and how students learn.  Gateway Educational Services was established in 2009 by educators, business professionals, and community leaders passionate about changing access to education and how students learn. Learn more at gatewayeducationalservices.org. 

Healing Justice Santa Barbara - Healing Justice Santa Barbara aspires to uplift all Black/African Americans to affirm that they deserve safety, love, equity, respect, and joy. Simply put, we do it for the love of Black people. Learn more at HJSB.org. 

Juneteenth Santa Barbara is an annual event where we unite community members to celebrate the freedom of enslaved people in the United States. Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom and immediately danced in the streets. Today, we honor our ancestors and celebrate our freedom, showcasing black joy and culture in Santa Barbara, California. Our community event also honors local black artists, performers, and organizations and provides free food, dancing, and singing. Join us for our 2020 event on June 19. Learn more at juneteenthsb.com.

Santa Barbara Black Culture House - In February 2020, Darrell McNeill and Sally Foxen-McNeill created the Black History Month Culture House as a pop-up cultural event space in downtown Santa Barbara. These events featured live music performances, film/documentary/concert video screenings, live discussions, and discussions centered around the richness of Black culture every weekend in February. Find out more about this year's virtual programming at BHMCultureHouse@gmail.com.

UCSB Arts & Lectures - Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Arts & Lectures annually presents over a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to "educate, entertain and inspire," A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions, and more, serving K-12 students, college students, and the general public. Learn more at artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

UCSB MultiCultural Center (MCC) -  In 1987, the MultiCultural Center was created out of student demands, along with the support of the larger campus community, for a safer and more inclusive community space for students of color at UCSB. With the original intent to facilitate the recruitment and retention of students of color and to combat intersecting systems of institutional oppression and racism, the center has grown, both in its mission and physical footprint, to address myriad social justice issues and take action in pursuit of a more just society. Learn more at mcc.sa.ucsb.edu. 

The National Association For the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Santa Maria-Lompoc, was founded in 1909 to address existing racial and ethnic disparities and is the nation's largest and oldest civil rights organization.  Its mission is to secure the social, political, educational, and economic equality of rights of all people by removing barriers such as race-based discrimination and to ensure the health and well-being of all persons. Learn more at santamarialompocnaacp.org. 


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Juneteenth Santa Barbara