TChaka Muhammed Honoring Our Ancestor: Passing Of The Torch

"Art is Business" 

The family of T'Chaka Muhammed invites his beloved community to celebrate the life of our recent ancestors. Let us come together to share a meal, share cherished memories, honor our culture, and strengthen his legacy with our love for one another. We kindly ask for your help extending this invitation to others who want to participate in this celebration.

Honoring the Memory of Dr. TChaka Muhammed, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, 11-4PM at 9586 Sunflower Rd., Wilton, CA 95693

Let’s break bread, share memories, lift up culture, and charge his legacy with our love for each other.

Please extend our reach by inviting those you know would want to participate.

Honoring Our Ancestors: Passing Of The Torch

The Council Of Elders Metro Sacramento Strives To Create Lifelong Relationships That Will Strengthen The Community For Generations

Dr. Tchaka Muhammed, the Founding Father of the Sacramento Birthing Project, grew into Birthing Project USA and has now welcomed over 15,000 babies globally.

Tchaka Muhammed's birthday is 02/28/1942. He was 82 years old and lived in Sacramento, CA. You never know when the last time we can speak with an elder will be. I talked to Tchaka in August 2024 when visiting Sacramento for the 13th Annual Banana Festival. I went by his House Museum, which held so many artifacts that he had collected over the years. We asked him to represent the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum at the City of Altars held in 2023.  

City of Altars | A Documentary of Día de los Muertos en Sacramento | Shot on Sony FX6

T'Chaka on YouTube—City of Altars is a documentary that follows the narratives of five arts organizations: The Latino Center, Sol Collective, Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer, Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, and the Washington Neighborhood Center, as they offer free altar-making workshops to the community. The core of this documentary explores the celebration of Día de los Muertos, what it means to Sacramento and neighboring communities, and how people can learn more about celebrating Día de los Muertos.

Created with funding from the California Arts Council Capital Region Creative Corps and the City of Sacramento.

Dr. T’Chaka Muhammed addressing the children at Kwanzaa 1993

Dr. T Chaka Muhammad - SacTownYouthNights 12/16/22

Dr. T'Chaka Muhammad- City of Altars SOJO Kwanzaa Celebration 2023

In Memory of Joyce Owens R.I.P.

"Art is Business"  

Classic Chicago Magazine   Joyce Owens transitioned on Saturday, February 10th, 2024.

Artist Joyce Owens, 76, showed the ‘positive’ Black experience in her work.

Owens was primarily a painter and dabbled in 3-D art forms and jewelry-making. In an exhibition, the Chicago State University professor wrote: “I decided not to do angry Black men and angry Black women. I painted what I saw.  by Mariah Rush on Feb 13, 2024, 3:11pm CST.

Chicago-based artist, teacher, and curator Joyce Owens Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia. Owens’s mother, Eloise Owens, was a trained opera singer who encouraged her daughter to become an art teacher. Nevertheless, Owens attended Howard University, earning her B.F.A. degree in art. Owens then attended Yale University, earning her M.F.A. degree in painting. After working various jobs, including arts and crafts director, art teacher, and producer for Philadelphia’s CBS television station, Owens moved to Chicago, Illinois. She then spent eight years working for WBBM-TV, CBS Channel 2 in Chicago, as the graphic arts coordinator for news. Owens did additional work for the company as a graphic artist, researcher, and news assistant, always painting and exhibiting her art.

@ Tony Smith photo credit

After Owens's solo exhibition at Chicago State University, she was invited to join the faculty. She has taught there since 1996, specializing in studio painting and drawing. Joyce Owens is known for addressing racism, skin color, and black self-determination through her paintings, masks, and installations. Her art materials are primarily acrylic paints on canvas, wood, and paper. Found objects are often incorporated into her two- and three-dimensional works. Owens’s artwork has been shown nationally in juried, invitational, solo, and group exhibitions in galleries and museums. Two of her curatorial efforts were singled out by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs as featured programs during Chicago Artists Month. Some other highlights of her career include being selected as the featured artist for Columbia College’s fifteenth annual DanceAfrica Chicago Festival, inclusion in Daniel T. Parker’s book African Art: The Diaspora and Beyond, “The Art of Culture” exhibition and catalog that also featured artist/art historian, Samella Lewis; and Howard University’s “A Proud Continuum: Eight Decades of Art at Howard University,” a juried exhibition of former Howard art students including Elizabeth Catlett.

@ Fletcher Hayes

We often traveled in the same circles, running into each other at art openings and conversing about our work. I remember coming onto the scene in Chicago and being a featured artist with us when we first met during Chicago Artists Month. We've also been in various exhibitions over the years.  I am so glad to have known her; her energy, smile, and laughter were infectious. 

References:

https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/joyce-owens-anderson

https://classicchicagomagazine.com/joyce-owens-celebrating-the-american-experience/

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-sun-times/20240216/281672554862646

https://chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2024/02/13/artist-joyce-owens-76-showed-positive-black-experience-her-work