Black Cultural Heritage Celebrated From Coast To Coast

Across the United States, a renewed focus on Black history, culture, and legacy is taking center stage, with communities striving to preserve the stories and spaces that have long shaped the American experience. From Los Angeles to New Jersey and Omaha, recent initiatives are spotlighting the contributions and resilience of Black Americans, ensuring that their histories are not only remembered but celebrated—and that the places and people at the heart of those stories are recognized for generations to come.

On January 17, 2026, the California Arts Council made a landmark decision by officially designating historic Leimert Park and its surrounding neighborhoods—including the Crenshaw corridor, Historic West Adams, and Central Avenue—as the state’s first Black Cultural District. According to the Los Angeles Times, this move is the product of years of organizing by residents, artists, and business owners determined to safeguard the cultural soul of South Los Angeles. For many, the announcement is both a validation and a call to action.

“It is the magnet for Black consciousness, Black arts and culture in the Southern California area,” explained Umaar Askia, co-owner of Nappily Naturals, a local herb shop that has served Leimert Park for eight years. His wife and business partner, Sharon Askia, echoed the sentiment: “We actually had to go across town to nourish our bodies. And so when we opened up eight years ago, we said, you know, we have to have something in this community.”

The district’s official recognition comes at a time when Black communities in Los Angeles face mounting pressures from displacement and housing instability. A recent report by Los Angeles County highlighted persistent disparities affecting Black residents, from access to affordable housing to neighborhood change. State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, who championed the district’s creation, sees it as a crucial step in combating these challenges. “In a time where there is tremendous dislocation and displacement, where many of our communities are changing, we want to ensure that these assets stay in place,” she told LAist. “And that they continue to thrive for generations in the future.”

Smallwood-Cuevas also emphasized the broader significance of the designation, describing it as “California doubling down on diversity, equity and inclusion. It sends a message that culture is important. It’s worth preserving.” For the Askias, the recognition is deeply personal. “It gives us recognition,” Sharon Askia said. “It’s empowerment, and it’s a legacy. And it affirms our status in the community.”

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, another effort to reclaim and reinterpret Black history is underway. In New Jersey, twin sisters Anika Grant and Nandi Jordan are preparing to launch “Ceremony for Revolutionary Seeds,” a traveling public art installation and performance series set to debut in fall 2026. As reported by WHYY on January 18, the project is part of Monument Lab’s “Revolutionary Acts” and will visit historic sites in Camden, Fort Lee, and Trenton, inviting participants to engage with the often-unrecorded stories of Black women during the Revolutionary War era.

“We all play a role in this, in creating history,” said Grant, who will draw on her experience as founder and CEO of Idlewild Experiential to design the events. The series will feature tea rituals, ceremonial sculpture, site-based performances, and art-making workshops, all free and open to families. For Jordan, an artist and sociologist, the project is about “really holding space for these Black women whose experiences might not be even recorded, and then making connections between these women and things we’re experiencing today.”

One of the project’s core challenges is the absence of archival records documenting the lives of Black women in Revolutionary New Jersey—a gap Jordan describes as “purposefully hidden, obscured.” Yet, she sees this absence as an opportunity: “Just because we go in our archive and don’t see the name of somebody and their birth date and their death date and what they did for a living doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist.” The sisters hope their immersive, in-person experiences will provoke reflection, spark conversation, and create lasting memories. “Especially in this digital age, where we’re overconsuming digital content at this point, and it’s to the point where we’re almost numb, these in-person experiences, I think, have greater significance because they create lasting memories, things people carry with them,” Grant told WHYY.

The project is produced by Monument Lab in collaboration with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the New Jersey Historical Commission, and RevolutionNJ. As the United States marks its 250th birthday, “Ceremony for Revolutionary Seeds” offers a timely invitation to reconsider the nation’s founding ideals and whose stories are included in its narrative. “Founding documents are hopeful documents,” Jordan said. “I believe that making space, creating art, creating experiences, can, like, provoke people to kind of fill in those gaps.”

Further north in Omaha, Nebraska, a different kind of preservation effort has just reached a milestone. On January 18, 2026, the Flatwater Free Press reported that the historic home known variously as the Burkenroad home, Broadview Hotel, and Trimble Castle was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places after a months-long campaign by local advocates. The 116-year-old house, designed in 1909 by Joseph P. Guth, stands as a testament to the city’s layered history of migration, segregation, and community-building.

From 1939 to 1966, the home was listed in the Green Book—a vital guidebook for African American travelers during the Jim Crow era—operated by Charles and Rosa Trimble as the Broadview Hotel. The Trimbles opened their doors to Black travelers who were often denied lodging elsewhere, helping to anchor a thriving Black community in North Omaha’s redlined Near North Side. “They really did a lot with respect to being a touchstone and being a cornerstone of the African American community,” historian Adam Fletcher Sasse told Flatwater Free Press.

Today, the home is owned by Wesley Dacus, who has maintained its historic character since purchasing it in 2007. Dacus, a retired educator, rents out apartments in the building and cherishes its role as a living piece of history. “Every time people come by, they just kind of marvel at it,” he said. “I want a plaque on that corner of the street that actually tells them what this house is all about.”

For community leaders like Shelley McCafferty, vice president of Preserve Omaha, the National Register listing is a crucial step in ensuring the home’s story—and the broader history of Black resilience in Omaha—is not forgotten. “It’s kind of one of a kind, especially in this area of the city,” said Eric L. Ewing, executive director of the Great Plains Black History Museum. The museum plans to open an exhibit on Green Book locations and sundown towns in February, further highlighting the importance of preserving these historic sites.

From the newly minted Black Cultural District in Los Angeles to the creative explorations of Black women’s history in New Jersey and the preservation of Omaha’s Broadview Hotel, these stories reflect a growing movement to honor, protect, and share the rich tapestry of Black American life. As these communities chart a path forward, their efforts serve as a reminder that the past—when preserved and reimagined—can offer both inspiration and guidance for the future.