TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The history of black people in this country is one of advancement, but there is no denying that progress has been punctuated with plenty of peaks and valleys along the way in the form of downright cruelty, unjust laws and harsh prejudice.

"The Living History," a re-enactment of that history, will be presented twice on Saturday at the Bakersfield Senior Center as part of the Harlem and Beyond project, a monthlong observance of Black History Month.

Unlike a stage play, the show is divided into individual scenes, or stations. Each is located in different areas of the building, which also is the home of the Community Empowerment Organization, or CEO, sponsor of the event.

"It's like a walk through a museum," said coordinator Genesis Nichols. "It's bringing history to life as you walk through the different stations."

About 20 local residents are involved in presenting the show, which includes historic photos, film, songs, poetry, dramatic readings and original writings.

The "walk" begins with pre-Civil War days when blacks were "owned" like property and humiliated in every way imaginable -- whipped, physically abused and sold at auction to the highest bidder. It then moves on to their emancipation, the uneasy years of the Reconstruction period and the emergence of Jim Crow laws, to the civil rights era in the 1950s and '60s and beyond.

It includes success stories and biographical sketches of heroic figures. As part of the re-enactment, Tarina Webster and Marshella Taylor will trace the lives of two women who may not be as well-known as some figures in black history: Mary Fields and Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman.

"These were extraordinary women (given) the challenges they faced," Nichols said. "They achieved great heights during their lifetimes."

Fields was born into slavery in Tennessee about 1832. After emancipation, she first got a job at a Catholic convent in Ohio. In 1884 when the sisterhood moved to Montana, Fields went with them. She helped the nuns build a mission and drove a wagon to haul lumber and other goods.

"When she was in her mid-60s, (Fields) became the first African-American woman to be hired by the U.S. Postal Service," Nichols said. "She delivered mail until she was in her 70s -- that's how she got the name 'Stagecoach Mary.'"

Coleman, a native of Texas, was born in 1892 and was the first woman, and the first black person, to obtain an international pilot's license. But she had to cross the Atlantic to do it, since no American flying school would accept her as a student.

"Before she went to France," Nichols said "she went to school in Chicago to become fluent in French."

After successfully completing her aeronautical training in 1921, Coleman returned to the U.S. and became a stunt pilot, or barnstormer, and competed in numerous exhibitions before her death in 1926 at age 34.

Another part of the Saturday program will be the screening of "Strange Fruit," a film made in 2008 by an independent producer and starring Kent Faulcon. Nichols said the movie is about a lynching in rural Louisiana "from an African-American viewpoint."

James Tyson, president of CEO, assisted in the planning for "The Living Exhibit." CEO, a nonprofit organization, is dedicated to providing educational and performing arts opportunities. It also offers a mentoring program and has a community choir and a band.

Movie poster installation

Instead of zooming past Maya Cinemas this afternoon, you might want to pull into the parking lot and get a close-up look at the enormously enlarged artwork of eight Kern County artists.

Installation of the framed 12-by-18-foot posters paintings is set for 4 p.m. today. The posters, which began life as 18-by-27-inch paintings, will be placed on the theater's exterior walls. Most of the artists are expected to attend the ceremony.

This is the culmination of a juried art competition co-sponsored by Maya and the Arts Council of Kern that began last fall. The contest was limited to only 20 entries. Of those, eight were selected: Ed Lloyd Gragg, Kevin Hardin, Audrey Jarvis, Don Trainor, Alison Beitzell, Patti Doolittle, Jeremy White and Caleb Kromer.

To be eligible, subject matter had to be related to some aspect of the movie industry, such as characters from a film, actors' likenesses or the movie-going experience.

For example, Trainor chose to highlight the glamour of Hollywood premieres of the 1930s with a detailed composition featuring a 1938 Packard convertible arriving for a gala opening night. And Patti Doolittle did a memorable and sensitive portrait of Marilyn Monroe.

Over the past few months, each of the winning paintings was photographed, enlarged and printed on vinyl by Don Mason Photography. The posters will remain at Maya through July.