(BCN) – February has been widely celebrated as Black History Month across the country for over half a century, and it has only become more significant in recent years with the power of our global connectivity, reaching beyond borders.

Amplifying Black voices and creating spaces for Black communities to come together and heal are more vital than ever following the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent protests and trials.

Here is a mix of five events this month, some online, some in-person, to celebrate our local Black communities and their contributions to society.   

Napa: Napa Valley’s fifth annual Black History Month event

Saturday: Gone virtual, Napa’s fifth annual celebration of Black History Month will take place on Saturday over Zoom.

The event aims to build healthy relationships across all cultures and share the Black experience through food.

Meal tickets for the event are priced at $25 apiece, and will include soul food and donated wine from a Black-owned winery that can be picked up at Crosswalk Community Church in Napa on the day of the event.

You can purchase meal tickets until Wednesday and find the video conference link at Brown Paper Tickets.   

Oakland: Second Mondays   

Feb. 14: Gold Beams and Black Joy Parade will be organizing another iteration of Second Mondays, a monthly multidisciplinary open mic for Black creatives to perform art and for Black audiences to enjoy.

The winners of the open mic will receive cash prizes and a chance perform on the Black Joy Parade stage later in the month, to an audience of thousands.

For more information, and to RSVP for the event happening at the New Parish in Downtown Oakland on Feb. 14 at the Gold Beams website.   

Castro Valley: Black History Month Community Hike   

Feb. 19: If you’d like to start a weekend off with a four-hour hike and come together with other members of the Black community, you can join the Black History Month Community Hike taking place 7 a.m.-noon Feb. 19 at Lake Chabot Regional Park.

While all skill levels are welcome for the trek, the organizers emphasize getting a good night’s sleep and hydrating well in preparation for the activity.

Register for free, donate and order a commemorative T-shirt on the Eventbrite website.   

San Francisco: Black History Month celebration concert with Martin Luther McCoy     

Feb. 26: To close out its “Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks” and “Billie Zangewa: Thread for a Web Begun” exhibitions, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco will host a Black History Month celebration event in partnership with SFJazz.

San Francisco artist Martin Luther McCoy will perform in his signature mix blues and griot storytelling to accompany original and repurposed visuals in a multimedia production.

You can register to attend the in-person event at 4 p.m. Feb. 26 at the MOAD website.   

Oakland: The Fifth Annual Black Joy Parade   

Feb. 27: Black Joy Parade, an Oakland-based hyper-positive nonprofit that aims to celebrate the Black experience and the Black community’s contribution to history and culture, will host its signature parade for the fifth year in Downtown Oakland on Feb. 27.

To learn more about the event, volunteer, perform or join the parade, visit the Black Joy Parade website.