Black Vines® Weekend 2023

BLACK VINES WEEKEND RECAP 

• Black Vines® weekend kicked off with a sold-out Toast to Black Vines® fundraiser and social media campaign celebrating BlackFemaleProject, in partnership with Be Bubbly Napa Valley, champagne lounge.

• The Black Vines® Saturday event, their 12th annual Toast to Black Wineries and Diverse Art, was a space to connect and a highlight of the weekend—as it tends to be! BlackFemaleProject is a proud nonprofit partner of Black Vines®. 

• Booths for BlackFemaleProject and Black Vines® at Oakland’s 6th annual Black Joy Parade offered space for community members to learn more about our work and share about themselves, too. 

• Visitors to our booths and our Teacher Truth gallery at Black Vines® offered love notes for Black women, learned about Teacher Truth, made donations to help sustain our work, and took home BlackFemaleProject swag while enjoying wines provided by Black Vines®.

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  Regardless of the rainy day, the 2023 Black Joy Parade stormed and strutted through downtown Oakland on Sunday, February 26, ending up at the four-block celebration site, powered by Black businesses and Black creators. The annual event is a call for Black folks from all over to have fun, get free, and bask in the glory of Black Joy, with an Oakland twist. 

  We were set up at 21st and Franklin Streets, and although it was a cold, rainy day, turnout was impressive. Friends of BlackFemaleProject and new faces alike stopped by to spend time with us, learn more about BlackFemaleProject and Teacher Truth, and dance to the nearby live music and DJ sets. Many of you took home new swag, including our 2nd Annual BlackFemaleProject Wellness Calendar, branded mirrors, buttons, stickers, and Teacher Truth bookmarks. We love to see you repping BlackFemaleProject out in the community! 

  Black Vines® was also well represented at the Black Joy Parade, with a booth right next door to BlackFemaleProject. The side-by-side setup was perfect for folks who wanted to visit us and then add some sips to the connecting and conversating. Because of your support, our tables consistently had high traffic the entire day—a testament to the loyalty and love within BlackFemaleProject’s community!

  We were happy to see some of the same faces at our parade booth that made up the 700+ community members who came out to Black Vines: A Toast to Black Wineries the day before. Now in its 12th year, the sold-out celebration—the largest event Black Vines® hosts—packed the massive and beautiful Bridge Yard venue with a stellar lineup of Black-owned wineries, impressive Black artists and makers, and the smooth and fresh sounds of Black jazz musicians. We’re always grateful to have a presence at this groundbreaking and history-making event. This year we welcomed members at the entrance with info about BlackFemaleProject and Teacher Truth; a step-and-repeat that offered a beautiful backdrop for photos of the styling and profiling guests; and a six-foot-high gallery wall that featured powerful quotes and testimonials from the Black educators at the heart of Teacher Truth. 

  The final weekend of Black History Month 2023 embodied the brilliance and beauty at the core of our community and our work: connectedness, self expression, and—most of all—JOY. BlackFemaleProject is honored to share purpose and space with all of our members, and we can’t wait to do it again next year.