Celebrating Black History Month in 2025’s America at the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center
By MARRIE STONE
In 1968, a day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a third-grade teacher in a rural Iowa town embarked on a bold psychological experiment. She created bigotry inside her classroom. Jane Elliott had discussed racism and discrimination with her students for years before realizing these weren’t lessons that could be taught. They were wounds that must be experienced if attitudes were to change.
Elliott divided her students into two groups based on eye color – blue and brown. Brown-eyed students were forced to wear special collars and were told they were lazy, stupid, ill-behaved and inferior. They were given shorter recesses, no access to the drinking fountains and fewer privileges.
For a full day, half the class willingly turned on their friends who experienced shunning, stereotyping and ill-treatment. It took no time for test scores to suffer, self-confidence to deflate and friendships to strain.
“I watched what had been marvelous, cooperative, wonderful, thoughtful children turn into nasty, vicious, discriminating, little third graders in a space of 15 minutes,” Elliott said in the 1985 documentary A Class Divided. Fourteen years after this social science experiment, the class reunited to discuss the lasting impact of that lesson and how it affected their lives.
Trailer for the 1985 Frontline episode “A Class Divided”
On Saturday, Feb. 15, the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center (LBCAC) will screen the documentary, A Class Divided: Jane Elliott’s Race Experiment. Following the film, a discussion will be led by quilt artist Allyson Allen. She’s an appropriate moderator, given that her own art exhibition – Peaceful Protests – was removed from Wells Fargo’s Laguna Beach branch in 2021 after complaints about its challenging subject matter. The show ultimately found a home at the Neighborhood Congregational Church, as well as at LBCAC and the Laguna Art Museum.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Artist Allyson Allen will lead a thought-provoking discussion at LBCAC following the screening of “A Class Divided”
On Wednesday, February 19, Mike Kaspar – host of the long running radio show Film School – will moderate a discussion following the screening of Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre. A century ago, violence erupted in Tulsa’s Greenwood District (aka Black Wall Street). What took decades to build into a vibrant and prosperous community was destroyed in only a few days. Tulsa Burning offers a modern-day roadmap for what resilience and the fight for justice looks like.
LBCAC annually honors Black History Month each February, but this year’s celebration might feel different in the wake of Trump’s inauguration last week. A slew of executive orders signed on Day 1 of his administration crushed federal programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion and targeted illegal immigrants for deportation. What in prior years might have felt like history lessons about shameful chapters in our nation’s past turned to cautionary tales in recent years. In 2025, A Class Divided sounds like history repeating except, in theory, we should know better.
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To explain how we got here not as a society, but as a species, LBCAC offers Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Historian, philosopher and best-selling author Yuval Noah Harari traces racism’s roots to mythology, not biology. Harari argues that humankind’s unique ability to collaborate in large numbers relies on a shared belief in fictional narratives. Those narratives often include the creation of common enemies.
Leading the discussion after the screening is local artist Jeff Rovner, who has a background in law, science, information technology and artificial intelligence, and who believes the implications of Harari’s work shed light on our current cultural divide.
“When I read Sapiens I could almost feel my brain being re-wired,” Rovner said. “Harari’s ideas have tremendous explanatory power. His principal idea is that homo sapiens, unlike all other animals, have the capacity to create fictions, or myths, and that our large communities depend upon a shared belief in them. Some myths – like fairness, democracy and kindness – are benign. But others are dangerous, and none more so than the belief in a social hierarchy based on race. Sadly, this myth persists in some quarters despite overwhelming evidence that there is no scientific basis for it. I’m delighted that the Cultural Arts Center is introducing our community to Harari’s powerful ideas.”
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Courtesy of Jeff Rovner
Local artist and friend of LBCAC Jeff Rovner will lead a discussion following the screening of “Sapiens”
In addition to these screenings, LBCAC will be featuring music-fueled celebrations by Black artists. Leading the pack on February 7 is Oscar Wilson, front man for the Cash Box Kings. “One glance at Oscar Wilson and the way he enthralls the crowd via his deeply personal, easily approachable stage presence and you’d believe the man known as Mr. 43rd Street was born to sing and play the music he adores so much,” wrote Marty Gunther in Blues Blast Magazine in 2023.
Wilson came to fame in his mid-50s but brought both nature and nurture to the stage. His dad, H.S. Wilson, died two months before Oscar was born but was a Chicago bluesman, a guitarist and vocalist who played in the style of Lightnin’ Hopkins. Oscar grew up poor, the great-grandchild of southern slaves, but music filled his Chicago neighborhood. In 2007, Wilson joined the Cash Box Kings, who have garnered widespread acclaim throughout the blues world. Their Alligator Records debut, 2017’s Royal Mint, was named among the Top Ten Blues Albums of the Year by MOJO Magazine. In 2019, the band received three Blues Music Award nominations, praise from NPR, The Chicago Tribune, AllMusic.com, UK’s MOJO and Blues & Rhythm, and radio airplay around the world. The Cash Box Kings continue to play major festivals across the U.S. and Europe.
Blues artist Chris Cain takes the stage on Friday, Feb. 21. When the legendary B.B. King exclaims, “Now that boy can PLAY the guitar!” you know you’re in for an unforgettable experience.
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Courtesy of Oscar Wilson
Blues genius and front man for The Cash Box Kings Oscar Wilson will perform at LBCAC on Friday, Feb. 7
Finally, but absolutely worth the wait, don’t miss Simply Sammy on Friday, March 7. Doug Starks plays Sammy Davis Jr. He not only bears an uncanny resemblance to Davis, but he embodies his spirit and shares his skills as a multimedia performance artist. From authentic impressions to mesmerizing tap dancing, Starks brings Davis’ magic back to life. By blending multimedia narratives with live music, Simply Sammy tells Davis’ biography better – and faster – than any play could accomplish. “It also adds authenticity because it takes audiences back in time where they can see these actual events happening,” Starks said.
Starks did Rat Pack shows in Vegas for decades but decided to leave because they relied heavily on caricatures of Sammy Davis Jr. instead of capturing the depth and complexity of his character.
“I knew Mr. Davis. My relationship with him gives me more depth than other people who portrayed him,” said Starks, who met Davis through mutual musician friend Jack Sheldon (a regular on The Merv Griffin Show and Schoolhouse Rock!). “Since I was a kid, I learned all the things (Davis) did – from quick draw to tap dancing to impressions to playing multiple instruments. I love channeling him through me.”
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Courtesy of Doug Starks
Doug Starks stars as Sammy Davis Jr. in “Simply Sammy”
Starks considers Laguna – what he refers to as an “artistically sensitive community” – to be just the right spot to host his show. And 2025 provides the perfect time. “There’s a little Sammy in all of us,” Starks said. “He tapped into a natural human element – courage to be yourself. All the things he went through, he finally wound up simply Sammy. He was who he was. That’s what everybody loved about him. [He helped people realize that] everybody has something to give. We’re all here to be a beneficial presence on this planet. That’s what Sammy inspired.”
A sneak peek of Doug Starks’ dazzling performance in “Simply Sammy”
Throughout February, LBCAC will also feature artworks celebrating Black History Month. Quilts by Allyson Allen, sculpture by Gerard Stripling, photographs by Tom Lamb and Tyrell Washington.
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Photo by Jeff Rovner
Allyson Allen poses with “Enough” (2018), a piece that is both timely and timeless in depicting the African American experience in the United States
“This year’s events were created in order to delve deeper into the roots of systemic falsehoods surrounding race, discrimination and historical narratives that have long challenged Black Americans,” said LBCAC Director Rick Conkey. “These events shed light on scientific truths and suppressed histories, confronting myths and inaccuracies, including those about critical race theory. By uncovering these realities, we aim to foster greater understanding and a more honest dialogue about our shared past and a better understanding of what the journey may look like moving forward.”
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Photo by Mary Hurlbut
LBCAC Director Rick Conkey has been a strong supporter of Black History Month, Juneteenth and Black artists since relaunching the Center in 2018
February 5, 7 p.m.– Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
February 7, 8 p.m. – Blues Legends Series: Oscar Wilson & Billy Flynn
February 15, 6 p.m. – A Class Divided: Jane Elliott’s Race Experiment
February 19, 6:30 p.m. – Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
February 21, 8 p.m. – Blue Legends Series Presents: Chris Caine
February 26, 6:30 p.m. – Amazing Grace
March 7, 8 p.m. – Doug Starks stars as Sammy Davis Jr. in Simply Sammy
For more information on these events and others happening at the LBCAC in February/March, as well as ticketing information, visit their website here.
