To help celebrate Black History Month throughout all of February. Sonoma State University is collaborating with various guest speakers of different artistic categories such as music, theater, art and much more in effort to honor the history, leaders and accomplishments of the black community. 

All events are via zoom for everyone to enjoy socially distanced and in the comfort of their home. One of the upcoming events, called ‘Music and The Black Culture’ is next Friday, Feb. 12. This covers an in-depth conversation with the director Shomari Smith, who produced the documentary, ‘93 Til Infinity: The Souls of Mischief’, and how music influenced him and his work throughout the years. Dr. Patrick Johnson will also be in attendance during this event. 

The event and Black History Month in total are creating a lot of buzz on the ‘virtual campus’ this semester. Sonoma State senior, Joey Hernandez explained, “It’s so exciting and refreshing to see all these events for Black History Month.” SSU junior, Zack Lewis also commented on the topic, saying, “There are a couple events that really interested me, I can’t wait to check them out!” 

The documentary gives the viewer a detailed look into the hip hop crew, The Souls of Mischief and their 1993 debut album. The album, ‘93 ‘Til Infinity is a well-known album from the 1990’s, which is known to some as a golden era for the genre. The album and the film dive deep into describing how influential Oakland and the Bay Area was for people living in it during that time, showing how music can influence an entire generation and still be impactful for years to come. 

Storytelling and personal experiences heavily influence the lyrics and is explained with great detail in the documentary. Smith travels across the country finding hip-hop notables to interview, and listen to their stories associated with the group as well as interviewing the entire crew back home in Oakland. The film was praised for giving the viewer a unique and more personal look at the famed hip-hop group.  

The two are planning to have a great conversation around music in the black community and culture. The conversation also looks to show how music can be used as a tool to express people’s culture and represent where they are from. Being born and raised in Oakland, California while being a multi-dimensional artist, Smith has found inspiration in where he is from and exerted that into his work. From working with filmmaking, photography, graphic designing and many more mediums he has used his upbringing and culture to help express his work to the world. He has worked with many people in various industries that include Hall of Fame basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bay Area native MLB pitcher CC Sabathia. From his experiences Smith looks to share how he used music as a tool to express his culture and self-expression. Which in part helped him in his path to being a well-known and respected artist in the Bay Area.

As a part of Black History Month, Sonoma State and Seawolf Living encourages all staff and students to come out and participate in this zoom-based event. As stated above, the event will take place next Friday, Feb. 12, at 11 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and is free for anyone to join and watch. For any more questions or concerns about this event please visit the Seawolf living website under the virtual events tab for more information about these events and ticket availability.