Each February, Black History Month honors the achievements and contributions of African Americans to the country. Here’s how you can celebrate throughout the Denver metro area with lectures, dramatic performances, music and more, both before and after Black History Month!
Music & Performing Arts
Five Points Jazz Roots
WHEN: Feb. 15 & 22; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
WHERE: Venues between 22nd and 28th streets on Welton Street
Explore Five Points' rich cultural and musical heritage at this two-day celebration. There will be live concerts, art exhibits, historical tours and more.
'Gee's Bend'
'Gee’s Bend'
WHEN: Jan. 31–Feb. 23, 2025
WHERE: Aurora Fox Arts Center
Memorable magic happens when theater director donnie betts [purposely lowercase] and the Aurora Fox Arts Center team up—as they did most recently for August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean.” This month, betts and an impressive cast head to the titular Alabama hamlet of “Gee’s Bend,” a small community of the descendants of the enslaved made famous for its quilts. Following Sadie and her sisters, the play—with gospel music stitched in—covers the years 1939 to 2002. “When some people see trash, others see art,” betts said when asked what drew him to Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s acclaimed play. “When others see no hope, the women of Gee's Bend see triumph.”
#IMAWARE Black History Celebration
WHEN: Feb. 22, 2025; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 9898 E. Colfax Ave, Aurora
Presented by The Love Church, this free annual event will feature workshops on housing discrimination, employment discrimination, a Black legislative update and information on interacting with law enforcement. The workshops take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. followed by a community showcase from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. where the winner will receive $500.
Resilience: Black History Month Fashion Show
WHEN: Feb. 23, 2025, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
WHERE: 1400 Oneida Street
The Black History Month Fashion Show will spotlight an array of upcoming models, innovative designers and talented performers who are making waves in the fashion and entertainment industries. Attendees will have the opportunity to witness a showcase of cutting-edge designs and captivating performances that pay homage to the rich heritage and contributions of the Black community.
Black History Live!
WHEN: Feb. 25, 2025; 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: 6014 S. Datura St., Littleton
The 2025 statewide tour will feature the living-history portrayals of Harriet Tubman by nationally acclaimed scholar/actor Becky Stone, and Louis Armstrong by scholar/actor Marvin Jefferson. The portrayals will be performed in a Chautauqua format, which is a first-person dramatization of a historical figure. The speaker’s monologue typically lasts 40 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A, first in character and then out of character as the scholar/performer. The event is free.
Black History Live!
WHEN: Feb. 27, 2025; 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Denver Public Library: Decker Branch Library, 1501 S. Logan St.
The 2025 statewide tour will feature the living-history portrayals of Harriet Tubman by nationally acclaimed scholar/actor Becky Stone, and Louis Armstrong by scholar/actor Marvin Jefferson. The portrayals will be performed in a Chautauqua format, which is a first-person dramatization of a historical figure. The speaker’s monologue typically lasts 40 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A, first in character and then out of character as the scholar/performer. The event is free.
Black History Live!
WHEN: Feb. 28, 2025; 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Windsor Gardens Community Center, 595 S. Clinton St.
The 2025 statewide tour will feature the living-history portrayals of Harriet Tubman by nationally acclaimed scholar/actor Becky Stone, and Louis Armstrong by scholar/actor Marvin Jefferson. The portrayals will be performed in a Chautauqua format, which is a first-person dramatization of a historical figure. The speaker’s monologue typically lasts 40 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A, first in character and then out of character as the scholar/performer. The event is free.
Museum Exhibitions
The Museum for Black Girls
WHEN: Open Wednesday–Sunday
WHERE: 500 16th Street Mall at the Pavilions
Winner of the Mayor’s Excellence in Innovation Award in 2024, this intimate—and fun—experiential museum on the city’s 16th Street Mall celebrates and shares the contributions of Black women throughout history and currently in ways both sincere and playful. Head for the second floor at the Pavilions for a mix of original artworks, curated exhibitions about heritage, and virtual and actual interactive displays.
Black LGBTQ+ History in Denver
WHEN: Feb. 11; 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library
Trace the intricate weave of Black history and LGBTQ+ history as panelists share the little known but powerful stories of Black LGBTQ+ folks in Denver. Leading a gathering that might well make a bit of its history own are Dr. Tara Jae, founder of Black Pride Colorado, and David Duffield, history coordinator for the Colorado LGBTQ History Project. “It should be groundbreaking,” said Duffield. “There is heritage going back to the roots of Five Points....This is novel and ground-breaking history.”
Owl Club of Denver: Legacies of Excellence
WHEN: Thru May 10, 2025
WHERE: History Colorado Center
Explore the rich traditions of a prominent all-Black debutante cotillion club in The Mile High City. Built from oral histories, and featuring a remarkable collection of photographs, Owl Club of Denver: Legacies of Excellence recounts the rarely told history of debutante culture from the perspective of African Americans who were historically excluded from the beauty standards of this European-born tradition.
Dawoud Bey: Street Portraits
Dawoud Bey: Street Portraits
WHEN: Thru May 11, 2025
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
Street Portraits is the first standalone museum show to explore a transformational phase of the celebrated photographer and 2017 MacArthur Fellow Dawoud Bey's work. The show features 38 portraits he took between 1988 and 1991, when he collaborated with Black Americans of all ages whom he met on the streets of various American cities. He asked a cross-section of people in these communities to pose for him, creating a space of self-presentation and performance in their urban environments. Bey used a large format tripod-mounted camera and a unique positive/negative Polaroid film that created both an instant print and a reusable negative, and as part of every encounter, he gave each person a small black-and-white Polaroid print as a way of reciprocating and returning something to the people who allowed him to make their portrait.
Arts of Africa Gallery
WHERE: Denver Art Museum
The Arts of Africa gallery showcases highlights from the museum’s collection, which encompasses about 800 objects, largely from the 19th and 20th centuries, across media—including painting, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and jewelry, as well as recent acquisitions of contemporary art. The updated presentation, spanning 2,300 square feet on level 4 of the Hamilton Building, offers a collection that illustrates the diversity, relevance, and dynamism of creativity and culture across Africa. The gallery presents an expansive and inclusive view of the arts from the African continent with works from the sub-Sahara, Egypt and North Africa organized around three anchoring themes: the self, power and transformation, and manifestation.
The Civil War Monument 'On Guard'
WHERE: History Colorado Center
Lonnie Bunch, the first African American and first historian to serve as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, said, “what you really want to do is use the statues as teachable moments. Some of these need to go. But others need to be taken into a park, into a museum, into a warehouse, and interpreted for people, because they’re part of our history."
Black History Month Public Art Tour
WHERE: Various locations throughout Denver
Embark on a self-guided tour of public art by Black artists and works celebrating Black history. You’ll find art in many different forms, including colorful murals, sculptures, abstract paintings and mosaics—many by local artists. These works celebrate Black History in Denver, Colorado and the West.
Mark Your Calendar for These Upcoming Events
Colorado Black Arts Festival
WHEN: July 11–13, 2025
WHERE: City Park
Colorado Black Arts Festival proudly presents its 38th annual celebration of African American art and culture. Enjoy a Colorado experience like no other in historic Denver City Park West.
Juneteenth Music Festival
Juneteenth Music Festival
WHEN: TBA 2025
WHERE: Five Points
One of the nation’s largest Juneteenth celebrations, look for a parade, live performances, art, vendors and fun for the entire family.
Ways to Celebrate Year-Round
The Black American West Museum & Heritage Center (former home of Denver's first African American female physician, Justina Ford) celebrates Black history year-round! The museum is open for limited, scheduled slots. If you are interested in visiting the museum, please sign up here. Check their website at bawmhc.org for both virtual and in-person events as they are announced.
And the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library serves as a neighborhood branch, a research library and museum in the Five Points neighborhood. It preserves and showcases the many contributions of African Americans to Colorado and the American West. Tours and programming for adults and families are available.
One of the more delicious ways to mark Black history is by celebrating the role food plays in it. Just ask Adrian Miller, the "Soul Food Scholar" and James Beard Award winner. “Welton Street Cafe serves soul food staples like fried chicken, black-eyed peas and greens that give a taste of home to Blacks who moved to Denver from the South during the Great Migration,” he said back in 2022. “Those same dishes remind us of a parent, grandparent, or caregiver who made a point of connecting us to our Southern roots.” After the pandemic and physical maintenance issues at its longtime home on the Welton Street corridor, the family-owned restaurant launched by Mona and Flynn Dickerson, who came to Colorado from the U.S Virgin Islands, looked for a spell like it would be history. But the Dickersons and four of their children persevered. Their new-old and storied restaurant occupies a corner in the Five Points neighborhood. Drop by, or better, make a reservation for WSC’s menu of Southern and Caribbean dishes.
Historical Spotlight: Barney Ford, Pioneering Hotelier and Restauranteur
Barney Ford
Barney Ford has one of the most remarkable stories of anyone who has ever been in Colorado’s hospitality industry. He was posthumously inducted into the Denver & Colorado Travel Industry Hall of Fame.
Photo credit: Denver Firefighters Museum