Celebrate Black History Month

ARTIFICIAL AFRIKA — A TALE  OF LOST CITIESThe latest project from Vernon Reid — who first gained worldwide fame (and Grammy recognition) while with the band Living Colour — embraces hip hop, film and visual art. Described as “a multi-media theatrical concert,” Reid’s  “Artificial Afrika — A Tale of Lost Cities” has been in development for over six years. The latest chapter in this ongoing project was created in collaboration with Akim Funk Buddha and DJ Leon Lamont.

At 7:30pm on Fri. and Sat.: February 17, 18, 24, 25. At Dixon Place (161A Chrystie St., btw. Rivington & Delancey Sts.). Tickets are $15 in advance online, $18 at the door ($12 for students/seniors). Visit dixonplace.org or call 212-219-0736.

TALK: “BLACK GOTHAM: A FAMILY HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY NEW YORK”

[media-credit name=”Photo courtesy of the artist and Dixon Place ” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]

The Lower East Side Museum’s Tenement Talk series presents this look at the truth behind many accepted notions about African American history — including the assumption that “19th-century black Americans” means enslaved people, that New York before the Civil War was a place of freedom and that a black elite didn’t exist until the 20th century. Carla L. Peterson (a professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park) will speak on these and other topics, drawing from her most recent book (“Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York”).

Free. Wed., Feb. 29, 6:30pm. At the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (located at 91 Orchard St.; talk takes place at 103 Orchard St., SW corner of Delancey). Call 212-431-0233 or visit tenement.org. Visit tenement-museum.blogspot.com, and follow them on Twitter (twitter.com/tenementmuseum).