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By Carla Thomas

On Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Laney College Odell Johnson Theater, the Third Annual Black Centric Showcase celebrated Black History Month. The show depicted eras of Black history, while featuring talent showcases of monologues, skits, dance, rap and singing expressing the past, present and future.

“The showcase was designed to feature talented members of the community performing all eras of Black history: Where we are from, where we have been, and where are we going,” said Saleemah Jones, production company founder-producer of “Put Ur Play On” with assistant director Angel Galloway.

Pamela Terry performed a monologue spun from August Wilson’s “Fences.” Terry responded to a casting call ad for the role. “Through my audition I learned about the production company, Saleemah Jones, and assistant director, Angel Galloway,” said Terry. “These two sisters are brilliant in their work to improve the quality of life in the community.” She said the experience was both inspiring and challenging.

AKIL of Oakland performed his original song “Gave Us 28,” referring to the number of days in February for Black History Month. “I like to produce positive rap,” said AKIL. “They gave us 28 but every day we make history.”

Other performances featured an original skit on love by Lauren Black and Erynne-Dnae of Cotati, California, and a poem by Oakland middle-schooler Talia Rochelle entitled “Go to the Back, Rosa Parks.” “Rosa Parks is an important, strong, brave woman in Black history,” she said.

Paris Jackson Jr. performed an original dance.

Gary Moore of San Francisco performed a monologue from August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Shelly Broadnax performed an original poem entitled “MIBPOC,” about having to check the ‘other’ box when filling out surveys and applications.

IMAC FADICHI of Chicago performed an original rap, “The Good Show,” and Pierre Jones of Richmond performed an original monologue entitled, “Black Caesar.”

The second half of the show included the stage production “Unapologetically Black: Here to Facilitate Harm Reduction Services for Those in Need, Inc.,” written by Itoro Bassey, a Nigerian playwright.

“Itoro reached out to us, and we thought it was a great way to put this perspective on our platform to raise voices,” said Jones, play producer.

The production, satiric in nature, explored the seriousness of Black and white race relations including white privilege and white insensitivity toward African Americans in everyday situations.

In one scene a white male doctor talks to a Black female patient in a dismissive manner. At the height of their disagreement, the two actors are frozen in time. A third actor enters, “Dr. Find You an Ally,” performed by Anthony Dixon, who narrates the situation and offers to serve as a white ally for the Black woman for 24 hours at the price of $59.99.

The actors unfreeze and the Black woman joins the narrator, as he explains his services including a bootcamp provided to retrain white perpetrators and transform their behavior into one of respect, understanding and empathy toward Black people.

Actors in the production included Tyler Mae, David Cesari, Shayna Howlett, Toni Rochelle, Ziare Whitelow, Christina Gluszaczak, Harley Ford and Cody Johnson.

“It’s been great to combine a showcase featuring some of the best in Bay Area talent with a stage play production written by a Nigerian sister,” said Jones. “The month may have 28 days, but we are 365 days a year, 24-7 making history,” said Galloway.

“Faiths and nonprofit leaders become frustrated when they submit good proposals, but still don’t get funded. But there’s a missing ingredient — knowing how to find funding partners that actually want to deliver that check so you can get the work done,” says Michelle Edmond, instructor of the upcoming OCCUR and The San Francisco Foundation FAITHS capacity building training, Getting Funded Part 2: The Path to Finding Your Best Funding Partners.

“That’s what they’ll learn in this session,” says Edmond. “In Getting Funded Part 1, leaders learned how to craft a strong master proposal, but that’s just half of the puzzle. Now let’s pursue the funding,” she says.

There are myriad funding sources available to faith-based and nonprofit organizations, but finding the right match is often confusing. Edmond, CEO and founder of the Jamko, brings a long, successful track record of mentoring and training nonprofit and faith-based organizations in research and other fund development techniques.

Participants will learn:

• How to identify and apply to a variety of funders that are eager to fund impactful programs
• Which foundations and corporations are good sources for funding for your work
• How to self-screen to minimize rejections
• How to get free access to online resources through public library system portals
• Understanding how to advocate for your work
• Confidence to navigate in an arena that is hidden from small nonprofits
• Information that is available on a wide variety of websites and platforms

“We are excited to bring a master teacher of Michelle Edmond’s caliber to the program,” said Carmen Bogan, lead consultant for the San Francisco Foundation program called A Model Built on Faith. “We are also pleased to announce that organizations who attend both sessions are eligible to apply for a grant to receive proposal grant writing and grant research consulting support. After many years in this work, OCCUR is still in the trenches with our nonprofit and faiths organizations. We are committed to their success because their success changes lives. And it’s long past time for our community programs to be funded.”

This training is recommended for individuals new to funding research as well as those who want to polish their research skills and build confidence to navigate in this arena, which is swiftly changing.

Date: March 23, 2023

Time: 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. PDT

Location: Virtual training, Zoom Meeting ID: 861 4945 3331

To Register for the Event: Visit AModelBuiltOnFaith.org