Image: Jean Michel-Basquiat, Untitled (Flag), 1979-1980
As America marks its 250th anniversary, NBAF’s 2026 season, I, Too, Sing!, offers a resonant exploration of the role Black creativity has played in defining and redefining the American story. Rooted in Langston Hughes’s declaration, “I, too, sing America,” the suite asserts that Black art is not an addendum to the national narrative; it is one of its primary authors. Through live and digital programming over the course of the year, we remind the nation that America’s song is not complete without our verse.
If you love music like we do, mark your calendar and join NBAF for Black Sound, a humanities and music series examining the influence of Black music as a force for cultural memory, creativity, and innovation. Through performance and dialogue with artists and cultural thinkers, each Black Sound experience explores musical traditions from spirituals and blues to jazz, hip hop, gospel, rock, house, and beyond, revealing how Black music shapes culture.
The series launches with WCLK’s Jamal Ahmad, host of Sounds of Universal Love. He’ll share music, discuss the origins of S.O.U.L., his practice as a music connoisseur of global sounds and more.
If you love music like we do, mark your calendar and join NBAF for Black Sound, a humanities and music series examining the influence of Black music as a force for cultural memory, creativity, and innovation. Through performance and dialogue with artists and cultural thinkers, each Black Sound experience explores musical traditions from spirituals and blues to jazz, hip hop, gospel, rock, house, and beyond, revealing how Black music shapes culture.
The series launches with WCLK’s Jamal Ahmad, host of Sounds of Universal Love. He’ll share music, discuss the origins of S.O.U.L., his practice as a music connoisseur of global sounds and more.
Join NBAF in partnership with the African American Film Critics Association for a private screening of the documentary Once Upon A Time In Harlem by William and David Greaves, followed by a post-film conversation moderated by Ronda Racha Penrice.
Once Upon A Time In Harlem rewinds to 1972 and takes the audience into Duke Ellington's apartment for a remarkable gathering of surviving members of the Harlem Renaissance, the cultural and intellectual movement of African American artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers that flourished in the upper Manhattan neighborhood in the 1920s and ‘30s. The film, the final and most significant work of filmmaker William Greaves, is widely regarded as a major historical and cultural document, capturing one of the last large gatherings of Harlem Renaissance artists and preserving their voices, memories, and camaraderie for future generations.
Doors at 6:30 PM
Film at 7:00 PM
Thriving Together Atlanta is a public art project dedicated to addressing inequality in healthcare through free events and activities. A collaboration between the City of Atlanta – Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the National Black Arts Festival, and Out of Hand Theater. The project serves as a model of how cross-sector partnerships can address the multifaceted issues affecting communities. The groundbreaking project was awarded a $1 million grant through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge which brings together cities and their leaders, residents, and artists to develop temporary public art projects that address important civic issues in their communities.
To date NABF has presented the Thriving Together Atlanta Community Arts and Wellness Festival and produced two mural projects. Artist C. Flux Sing’s mural Old 4th, Forward to Victory uplifts the legacy and perseverance of Old Fourth Ward while Chloe Alexander’s The Light We Carry celebrates resilience and collective care in the West End. The final project, a mobile bus experience, launched in January 2026. The Mobile Bus Experience is produced in partnership with NEXT Atlanta and MARTA.
Visit the Thriving Together Atlanta website to stay up to date on upcoming events.
Additional funding has been contributed by Cousins Foundations, Gucci Changemakers, and South Arts. Support from the Black Leadership AIDS Crisis Coalition powered by AHF. Community partners include the Atlanta Beltline, Darwin Hotel, MARTA, NEXT Atlanta, Hammonds House Museum and Historic Mount Sinai Baptist Church.
