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Join us for our annual fundraiser - free admission, great finger food, wine tasting, music, children's activities, and an amazing array of items on which to bid!

At Haley House Soup Kitchen, 23 Dartmouth Street in the South End

Presented in partnership with Discover Roxbury.

In the 1960's America experienced dramatic shifts in the political landscape. Roxbury, of course, was not immune. From the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, to protests against urban renewal, to street riots, Roxbury was a microcosm of national events. Join State Representative Gloria Fox as she discusses some of the events that occurred from an historic and an eye-witness account.

This event is free, with dinner available for purchase beginning at 5pm. Seating is on a first come, first served basis

Our perennial event presented in partnership with the Color of Film Collaborative presents the timely documentary Waiting for Superman. Doors open at 5:30pm, Dinner will be served at 6pm, featuring Take Back the Kitchen's Turkeyburgers topped with onions & mushrooms and Gruyere cheese on a whole wheat bun with a side of oven-baked Sweet Potato Fries. Dessert will feature Apple Pie and Locally produced Ice Cream. The film will be screened at 7pm, and a discussion will follow the film.

Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/173408

Join E. Barry Gaither, Director of the NCAAA (National Center of Afro-American Artists), as he interviews artist and poet Gary Rickson, Wednesday February 2nd at 7pm at Haley House Bakery Cafe for the History Speaker Series: Black Arts Movement.

In 1968, when the Black Arts Mural Movement began in Roxbury, many of its works were figurative, political, and didactic. The addition of African symbols visually linked the Black community to their African past and invited the people of Roxbury to draw strength from that legacy.

Through the use of color, fabric, bronze and other materials, Roxbury artists from Napoleon Jones Henderson to Paul T. Goodnight to Fern Cunningham created compelling public art that inspired the community.

This event is free, with dinner available for purchase beginning at 5pm. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Program begins at 7pm.

Co-presented with Discover Roxbury.

A Meeting With Curator Lolita Parker, Jr.
By Sarah Hoops

Lolita Parker, Jr. served as curator at the Haley House Bakery Café for five years and the presence of her energy is evident. Though she recently passed the role of curator onto Haley House board member Celia Grant, Lolita was responsible for the artists and pieces featured at the Haley House Bakery Café since its inception in 2005.

I met with Lolita Parker, Jr. in a small community garden off Tremont Street. She watered her small plot of zinnias and zucchini, explaining that before she plants anything, she infuses the dirt with energy. "That's what I do with everything that I do," said Lolita, "I infuse it with energy."

Lolita's self-proclaimed "unorthodox style of getting art," drives her to seek artists who have not shown their work previously. Her approach to curation stems from her own experience as an artist.

A long time photographer, Lolita has shown her own work on the café walls. "I had been a photographer for over 40 years, yet it wasn't until 2002 that I had my own show," she explained. "Because I had been through that experience, I also sought other artists who had, wonderful bodies of work, but for whatever reason, hadn't shown it before."

As the bakery has gained popularity, more artists have approached the café about showing their work. "Even though we have all these artists who have it all together," she stresses, "we can't forget the artists who've never had a show."

Lolita said she uses the art to complement how people use the space of the café. A native Southern Californian, she said the café has a "California vibe," as a place for people to gather together and share good food—and "it is not just a business." "At times there have been people I haven't seen for awhile—activists and whatnot—I can come sit in the café for a couple hours, and just about anybody I'd wanted to see has come through the door. It's got that kind of vibe." She explained how difficult it will be to leave the others at the café—coworkers, and the whole community—as she moves onto a new path. "It's certainly been a place of joy, and celebration."

Ms. Parker came to Roxbury for the first time when she was seventeen. Since then, she's left and returned to Boston. She was a community organizer for five years and has a deep connection to the community. She worked on two documentaries about Roxbury, one for the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and one to celebrate the Madison Park Development Corporation's 35th Anniversary. She worked on the "Lower Roxbury Black History Project" with Northeastern University, interviewing people in their eighties and nineties about their experiences growing up in the area.

As an artist, Lolita even has a number of photographs she took of the HHBC space long before it became the café. "I was familiar with the building," she says. "I had sort of watched the evolution of the space." Clearly, she did more than watch the evolution—she helped make it happen.

Occurring Thursday evenings, the Art is Life Itself (AILI) performance series embraces art, culture and spirituality. Seeking to meet a need expressed by the Dudley Square community, AILI provides programming that provokes thoughtful dialogue and inspires creativity.

AILI is a safe and vibrant environment for individuals and families to gather, to share food and dialogue, make art, and celebrate the talent of performance artists from the community and around the world.

United by a devotion to art and creative expression, Dudley youth and families sit elbow-to-elbow with Boston-based artists, college students, and professionals from neighboring areas. Bringing nearly 30 years of television and radio experience, as well as over a decade of teaching experience, AILI resident artist and host Nina LaNegra helps people connect and get to know each other. They share stories, showcase art, challenge, nurture, and support one another as they grow personally and as a community.

In partnership with Discover Roxbury, the Café also hosts a monthly evening event highlighting Roxbury's artistic, political, and cultural history. Other weeks, the Café features a performance by an artist, followed by community dialogue and open mic performances.

The diversity of the community is reflected in the variety of the performances. Catering to all—families, grandparents, teens and toddlers—AILI hosts a broad range of guests. Opera singers, break dancers, storytellers and Def Jam Poets; authors, activists and politicians; world-class painters, photographers and thought leaders. At the same time, AILI serves as a safe and supportive environment for adults and youth who are just finding their own voice.

Closed for some holidays. Please call the Café for details, 617-445-0900.

In partnership with the Color of Film Collaborative, we show powerful documentaries and narrative films approximately four times per year. Guests watch while enjoying food and drink and engage in thoughtful dialogue following each screening. Every summer, as a part of the Roxbury International Film Festival, we offer a special outdoor showing for 100-150 guests. Held under the stars with locally sourced summer barbeque, the film is projected on a large screen.