Black Lives in Alaska: Journey, Justice, Joy

Read Up

These books about Black lives are just a few available through the Anchorage Public Library:

Stamped from the Beginning, by Ibram X Kendi

Eloquent Rage, by Brittany Cooper

The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander

The Fire This Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward

Killing Rage, by bell hooks

For other racial equity resources, visit: https://bit.ly/APLRacialEquityResourceCenter

Support provided by the Anchorage Public Library

Get Schooled

These books for young readers and are just a sample of those available through the Anchorage Public Library:

For Children:

A Place Inside of Me, by Zetta Elliott

The Undefeated, by Kwame Alexander

M is for Melanin, by Tiffany Rose

For Teens:

Stamped, by Jason Reynolds

Black Enough, edited by Ibi Zoboi

Midnight Without a Moon, by Linda Williams Jackson

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, by Vashti Harrison

Support provided by the Anchorage Public Library

Eat Some Soul Food

Walk over to Roscoe’s Catfish and Barbeque, located just across A Street from the Anchorage Museum, at 120 E. 6th Avenue.

Roscoe’s has been serving Southern food in Anchorage since 1988. Dishes include barbeque, crispy fried catfish, savory greens, and peach cobbler.

This Black-owned restaurant also is home to a display of photographs chronicling decades of visits to the restaurant and Anchorage by Black celebrities from across the nation.

Support Black Business

Support Black business and your community by buying local.

Download the Black Business Directory for Anchorage. This resource was created by the Business Boutique and Hair Science.

Know Your City

Fifth and D Streets in Downtown Anchorage

The Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall was once the site of the Rendezvous Building, owned by Zula Swanson. Once declared “Alaska’s Richest Black” by the magazine Ebony, Swanson’s real estate holdings were among the most expansive and lucrative in Alaska. The Rendezvous Building housed a hotel, bar, and club. From the 1930s until its demolition in 1971, it was a well-known spot for entertainment and served as a center for Black social life as new arrivals to the city made connections, heard about job opportunities, and fostered community ties.

Learn Our History

Eastchester Flats, Ingra and Orca Streets to 15th Avenue to Chester Creek

The Anchorage neighborhood known as Eastchester Flats was once Alaska’s largest Black community. It was roughly bounded on the west by Ingra Street, on the east by Orca Street, on the north by 15th Avenue, and on the south by Chester Creek. In the 1950s, one estimate put three- quarters of Anchorage’s Black population in Eastchester Flats, likely the result of having been denied access to other neighborhoods. Eastchester Flats was known for its lively nightlife. The neighborhood was largely dismantled through a process known as ‘urban renewal’ by the early 1970s. What exists of the community today has been absorbed by the Fairview neighborhood.

Learn Our History (1)

Willard L. Bowman Elementary School, 11700 Gregory Rd, Anchorage AK, 99516

Bowman Elementary School was named after Willard L. Bowman. Bowman served in the Navy Learn Our History during World War II and relocated to Alaska shortly after the conflict. His took an active role in Alaska politics, with a keen focus on civil rights. He served the first director for the Alaska Commission on Human Rights and in the Alaska House of Representatives. As a representative, Bowman helped give a voice to those on the margins. Bowman passed away in December of 1975, in the midst of his third term as a state representative. The Anchorage School District dedicated Bowman Elementary School in 1991.

Join the Conversation

The Alaska Black Caucus was founded in 1975 to serve the Anchorage community as a non-profit, bipartisan organization that focuses on education and increasing the political and economic status of all Black people. Relaunched in November of 2019, the ABC is active in community engagement, including a series of open dialogues held on Sundays at 7pm AKST. Topics have included racism as a health crisis, youth conversation on race, media bias, and more.

You can register for the next conversation online at: https://www.thealaskablackcaucus.com/media- center/events-2/

Take Action

There are many ways to get involved and take action in our community. Organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) are nationally recognized for their work in social justice and anti- racism. All have local branches in Anchorage.

There are also other ways to get involved through local and grassroots organizations and affinity groups, such as community councils and service groups.

Your Vote is Your Voice

Did you know that Alaskans are automatically registered to vote when we apply for our Permanent Fund Dividend? Voting rights advocates organized a successful ballot initiative in 2016 to automatically register eligible voters who apply for Your Vote is Your Voice the PFD. This measure expanded the voter rolls and registered thousands of Alaskans to vote. When was the last time you exercised your right to vote?

For more information on laws governing Alaska’s elections, visit the Division of Elections webpage at: elections.alaska.gov

Celebrate Juneteenth

The 1863 Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery immediately in places under Confederate control in the United States.

Two years after the Proclamation, on June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the enslaved Black people there were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as Juneteenth, observed primarily through local celebrations. In 2020, a group of U.S. Senators (including now Vice President, Kamala Harris) proposed a bill to declare Juneteenth a national holiday. The bill was re-introduced in 2021 by Senate and House lawmakers as the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.

Learn about Anchorage’s Juneteenth celebration and national events here: www.juneteenthanchorage.com

ADMISSION IS FREE at the Anchorage Museum on Juneteenth, June 19th, 2021