Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events

Share the mic and your words with fellow writers and poets in this monthly night here are Black Bird.

Hosted by Laura Booth.

Out & About is back with their purple bus to host a special Pride Storytime.

Founded in 2022, Out & About is an organization dedicated to nurturing children’s literary lives and developing their curiosity. They aim to engage children using diverse literature that provides “windows” into new perspectives, and “mirrors”, or stories that affirm and reflect the daily reality of LGBTQ+ youth. We aspire to uplift the work of LGBTQ+ authors, amplifying stories that are often underrepresented in children’s literature.

Join us as they read some of their favorite storybooks in our back garden, then shop their mobile bookshop in the purple bus.

Free

Puppets, songs and stories for children.

Free

Puppets, songs and stories for children.

Free

The Outer Sunset’s beloved storyteller will be sharing tales from around the world.

Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy is a storyteller, writer, workshop leader and curriculum consultant in San Francisco, where she has been an artist-in-residence in public and private schools since 1986. She has brought the joy and magic of storytelling to countless children and grown-ups over the past three decades, preserving and transmitting this ancient yet relevant art form through transformative and engaging live performances and high-quality recordings.

Free

An evening of knitting and community, sharing tips and tricks.

No formal instruction will be offered.
Bring your own supplies.

Free

Local musician will be singing her family music, indie style.

Frances England fell into the kids' music world by accident. In 2007, she wrote and recorded a little homespun cd called Fascinating Creatures as a fundraiser for her son's preschool. She had no intention of anyone outside her own circle of family and friends hearing it, but word got out, and within a couple of years Frances went from playing at nursery schools and libraries, to Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

With a gift for capturing the wonders, simple pleasures, and beauty of childhood, Frances frames her music in ways both children and parents can appreciate. Her sparkly, acoustic pop songs are both catchy and heartfelt. In a Parents Choice Gold Award review, Lynne Heffley enthused, "England is an original, an exceptionally creative and musically astute children's artist whose unique musical vision was apparent in her debut album. With the authenticity of her alt-rock and acoustic folk rhythms, her expressive vocals and gentle, slightly offbeat approach to what it means to be a child - and a parent - England proves she again and again, she is the real deal."

Free

Join us for a fundraiser in support of Black Bird's very own Jennifer Hart Gardner's upcoming film The Sempervirens Alliance, a non-fiction philosophical meditation on consciousness between a human and the Redwood forests.

The fundraiser helps support the first on-the-ground portion of the filmmaking process.

Offerings available at the fundraiser include handmade bookmarks, zines, and original sketches in relation to the film, and a limited number of tickets for an old growth Redwood climb.

About They're So Flamboyant: flam·boy·ant – (of a person–or bird!–or their behavior) tending to attract attention because of their confidence, exuberance, and stylishness

This fun and funny bird's-eye tome to individuality, community, and harmony follows the reactions of a neighborhood full of birds when a “flamboyance” of flamingos moves in. Each band of birds—a gaggle of geese, a dole of doves, a charm of finches, a brood of chickens, a scream of swifts, and an unkindness of ravens—all have their feathers ruffled and express their apprehension about the new and different arrivals. Bright pink colors, long legs, how dare they!

Even a watch of nightingales patrols after dark. When the band of jays decides it is time to settle down the neighborhood, the pride of peacocks takes the lead, with support from a waddle of penguins, a venue of vultures, a mob of emus, and a gulp of cormorants. Finally, they all land at the flamingos’ welcome party only to realize that they had all been birdbrained. Their new neighbors are actually quite charming, and not so scary and different after all. Includes a note from the author on helping children to learn about acceptance, avoid stereotyping, and model welcoming behavior.

About Rainbow: A First Book of Pride: This is a sweet ode to rainbow families, and an affirming display of a parent's love for their child and a child's love for their parents. With bright colors and joyful families, this book celebrates LGBTQ+ pride and reveals the colorful meaning behind each rainbow stripe in a simple and engaging format for young readers. Readers will celebrate the life, healing, light, nature, harmony, and spirit that the rainbows in this book will bring.

Michael Genhart, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California. He lives with his family in Marin County.He received his BA in psychology from the University of California, San Diego and his PhD in clinical and community psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author of several picture books.

Free

Join local experienced storyteller Heather Box for a life mapping workshop for women.

What to Expect:

Life Mapping Exercise: Engage in a guided life mapping exercise, a powerful tool to explore and articulate significant moments. This exercise serves as a catalyst for your personal storytelling journey, whether you aspire to deliver a TED talk or share more authentically with your friends and colleagues.

Storytelling Techniques: Learn effective storytelling techniques from Heather, empowering you to craft and communicate your narratives with authenticity and impact.

Community Bonding: Create a supportive space for community members to share experiences and discover common ground, fostering stronger relationships within our diverse and inclusive community.

Empowerment: Encourage women to embrace their voices and stories, empowering individuals to be visible and contribute to a more inclusive historical narrative.

Whether you're a seasoned storyteller or just starting your journey, this workshop is an opportunity to connect, be inspired, and celebrate the stories that shape our lives. Everyone is welcome. We look forward to sharing this empowering evening with you!

Heather Box is a writer, activist, and trainer who works in partnership with change makers around the globe to support them to use their voice and tell their personal stories. She is the co-founder and CEO of the Million Person Project a global project about love, storytelling and connecting change makers and the co-author of How Your Story Sets You Free by Chronicle Books.

Free

Join a supportive and reflective parenting community book group facilitated by Aaron Neimark, MA, parent and Early Childhood Educator in San Francisco. This month, we will be reading Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy.

Email Neimarka@sfusd.edu to sign up or for more information.

Aaron Neimark has been teaching young children for more than 20 years. He currently teaches Transitional Kindergarten at a public school in San Francisco and lives in the Outer Sunset with his wife and two children (7 and 1). He is interested in reflective teaching and parenting and appreciates the chance to build community with others, while working together to achieve a common goal.

About Good Inside: Parents have long been sold a model of childrearing that simply doesn’t work. From reward charts to time outs, many popular parenting approaches are based on shaping behavior, not raising humans. These techniques don’t build the skills kids need for life, or account for their complex emotional needs. Add to that parents’ complicated relationships with their own upbringings, and it’s easy to see why so many caretakers feel lost, burned out, and worried they’re failing their kids. In Good Inside, Dr. Becky shares her parenting philosophy, complete with actionable strategies, that will help parents move from uncertainty and self-blame to confidence and sturdy leadership.

Offering perspective-shifting parenting principles and troubleshooting for specific scenarios—including sibling rivalry, separation anxiety, tantrums, and more—Good Inside is a comprehensive resource for a generation of parents looking for a new way to raise their kids while still setting them up for a lifetime of self-regulation, confidence, and resilience.

Free

Photographer Kaleb Friend's statement about Air Space: Finding Connection and Peace with Wild Birds:

"We humans are wired to see ourselves in others, even in animals. That's why a fleeting glance with a wild creature, or a pose that seems familiar, can spark a connection. In these brief moments, we imagine seeing a reflection of ourselves.

Birds, however, take this connection a step further. We might see ourselves in them, but we can't truly grasp their world. They can fly, see ultraviolet light, and sense the Earth's magnetic fields - things we can only dream of.

These encounters with nature are powerful. The city noise fades, replaced by birdsong and the rustle of wings. We're no longer bombarded by sights - instead, we focus on the beauty of feathers and the marvel of flight. The stress of daily life melts away as we simply observe and listen.

These images capture a feeling of peace and solitude, a place to escape to. I hope they inspire you to protect nature, but also to feel like you belong to it."

Kaleb Friend started birding as a way to spend time in nature, and originally used the camera just to remember what he'd seen. After about two years of learning the names and songs of local and migratory species in Washington, DC, he submitted his first e-Bird list and soon got to know the wonderful community of birders around the country. Today, in addition to photography, he writes about bird conservation and works to educate others about the role birds play in the environment. He is an ambassador for the American Bird Conservancy, where he shares his expertise, engages others, and takes action to benefit birds. You can see what he's been up to most recently at his Instagram account, @kalebfriendphotography and website.

Free

About Palo Alto:Palo Alto’s weather is temperate, its people are educated and enterprising, its corporations are spiritually and materially ambitious and demonstrably world-changing. Palo Alto is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system.

In PALO ALTO, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the "tragedy of the commons," racial genetics, and "broken windows" theory. The Internet and computers, too. It's a story about how a small American suburb became a powerful engine for economic growth and war, and how it came to lead the world into a surprisingly disastrous 21st century. PALO ALTO is an urgent and visionary history of the way we live now, one that ends with a clear-eyed, radical proposition for how we might begin to change course.

Malcolm Harris is a freelance writer and the author of Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials and Shit is Fucked Up and Bullshit: History Since the End of History. He was born in Santa Cruz, CA and graduated from the University of Maryland.

Free

****PUBLICATION DAY IS JUNE 18TH, 2024. 

Bo Lu moved from bustling Taipei to suburban Kansas as a little girl. Before English words made sense, the world of picture books welcomed her in. It was in those pictures that she found comfort in her new beginning. As an author and illustrator, she hopes to create a safe space to explore big feelings through images and stories. Bo also finds comfort in slurping noodle soups, exploring the Bay Area Redwoods, and dancing with her girls around their dad at the dinner table. Bao’s Doll is her debut picture book.

Free

Batik And Baker is a pastry pop-up serving sweets and snacks inspired by Malaysian and Asian flavors. Batik & Baker was born from owner Audrey Tang’s craving for familiar flavors of her childhood in Penang, her love for California’s seasonal produce and fascination with new foods. Comfort and curiosity is what feeds Batik & Baker; it is a celebration of classic treats and an invitation to try something new and unexpected. All bakes are small-batch and scratchmade.

The menu will feature Seri Muka, a Malaysian dessert of sticky rice with butterfly pea flower, fresh pandan coconut custard (gluten-free, dairy-free), alongside other treats.

Audrey is a professionally-trained pastry person practicing a craft and a graduate of San Francisco Cooking School. She's had the good fortune to work with and learn from the amazing chefs & craftspeople at Craftsman And Wolves, Mister Jiu’s, Cotogna and Quince.

Batik And Baker was a craving for the familiar flavors that Audrey grew up with in Penang, Malaysia, and of weekends baking with her mom from photocopies of cake and tart recipes from British cookbooks.

Pronounced as bah-teak, batik is patterned cloth made using a wax-resist dyeing technique that originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Audrey's maternal grandma — Poh Poh — was a Nyonya, of Peranakan descent, and always wore an ankle-length wraparound batik sarong. She is who Audrey takes inspiration from, for this space, for nourishment and for quiet strength. 

About The Chinese Groove: Eighteen-year-old Shelley, born into a much-despised branch of the Zheng family in Yunnan Province, dreams of bigger things. Eager to escape the shadow of his widowed father’s grief and buoyed by an exuberant heart and his cousin Deng’s tall tales about the United States, Shelley heads to San Francisco to claim his destiny. He’s confident that any hurdles will be easily overcome by the awesome powers of the “Chinese groove,” a belief in the unspoken bonds between countrymen that transcend time and borders.

Upon arrival, Shelley is dismayed to find that his “rich uncle” is in fact his unemployed second cousin once removed and that the grand guest room he’d envisioned is but a scratchy sofa. The indefinite stay he’d planned for? That has a firm two-week expiration date. Even worse, the loving family he hoped would embrace him is in shambles, shattered by a senseless tragedy that has cleaved the family in two. They want nothing to do with this youthful bounder who’s barged into their lives. Ever the optimist, Shelley concocts a plan to resuscitate his American dream by insinuating himself into the family. And, who knows, maybe he’ll even manage to bring them back together in the process.

Kathryn Ma is the author of the widely praised novel The Year She Left Us, which was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and an NPR “Great Read” of the year. Her short story collection, All That Work and Still No Boys, won the Iowa Short Fiction Award and was named a San Francisco Chronicle “Notable Book” and a Los Angeles Times “Discoveries Book.” She is a recipient of the David Nathan Meyerson Prize for Fiction and has twice been named a San Francisco Public Library Laureate. Her latest novel, The Chinese Groove, is a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Amazon Editors’ Pick, a People magazine Best Book, a Washington Post Best Audiobook, and an Indie Next Pick. The Chinese Groove is the 2024 selection for One City One Book by the San Francisco Public Library and is longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize.

Free

Karen Ver Trinidad of Bright Moments returns to Black Bird for a flower pop-up for Mother's Day, featuring both fresh and dried floral bouquets.

With the values of sustainability, creativity, and community, the Sunset District's very own Bright Moments delivers hand-tied bouquets throughout the Bay Area. Their work is always made with local-grown flowers. 

A filmmaker by trade, Karen Ver Trinidad has always had an affinity for ephemeral beauty. When she had downtime from her nine-to-five, she created bouquets from grocery store flowers as a way to slow down and stay present. Eventually, she started gifting bouquets to friends and family, and experiencing their reactions to her bouquets transformed her. She realized that her happiest memories occurred in the short span of a moment and always included another person. Since then, she has left the film/tv industry and made it her mission to discover, create, and share bright moments with others.

Join authors Lauren Markham and John Washington in conversation around Lauren's book A Map of Future Ruins, a blend of memoir, history, reporting, and essay that helps us see that the stories we tell about migration don’t just explain what happened. They are Oracles: they predict the future.

About A Map of Future Ruins: When and how did migration become a crime? Why does ancient Greece remain so important to the West’s idea of itself? How does nostalgia fuel the exclusion and demonization of migrants today?

In 2021, Lauren Markham went to Greece, in search of her own Greek heritage and to cover the aftermath of a fire that burned down the largest refugee camp in Europe. Almost no one had wanted the camp—not activists, not the country’s growing neo-fascist movement, not even the government. But almost immediately, on scant evidence, six young Afghan refugees were arrested for the crime.
Markham soon saw that she was tracing a broader narrative, rooted not only in centuries of global history but also in myth. A mesmerizing, trailblazing synthesis of reporting, history, memoir, and essay, A Map of Future Ruins helps us see that the stories we tell about migration don’t just explain what happened. They are oracles: they predict the future.

Lauren Markham is the author of the award-winning The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life. A US American of Greek heritage, she has been working with migrants for two decades, and writing about migration and other social issues in The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, The New York Review of Books, and other publications. She lives in Berkeley, CA.

About The Case for Open Borders: Because of restrictive borders, human beings suffer and die. Closed borders force migrants seeking safety and dignity to journey across seas, trudge through deserts, and clamber over barbed wire. In the last five years alone, at least 60,000 people have died or gone missing while attempting to cross a border. As we deny, cast out, and crack down, we have stripped borders of their creative potential — as lines of contact, catalyst, and blend — turning our thresholds into barricades.

Brilliant and provocative, The Case for Open Borders deflates the mythology of national security through border lockdowns by revisiting their historical origins; it counters the conspiracies of immigration’s economic consequences; it urgently considers the challenges of climate change beyond the boundaries of narrow national identities. 

This book grounds its argument in the experiences and thinking of those on the frontlines of the crisis, spanning the world to do so. In each chapter, through detailed reporting, journalist and translator John Washington profiles a character impacted by borders. He adds to those portraits provocative analyses of the economics and ethics of bordering, concluding that if we are to seek justice or sustainability we must fight for open borders.

John Washington is a staff writer at Arizona Luminaria, a community-focused media outlet where he writes about the border, climate change, democracy, and more. He has written for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Intercept, and other outlets. His first book, The Dispossessed: A Story of Asylum at the US-Mexico Border and Beyond, was published in 2020 by Verso Books. Washington is also a translator of books by Anabel Hernandez, Sandra Rodriquez Nieto, and others. His most recent translations include The Hollywood Kid by Óscar Martínez and Juan Martínez, and Blood Barrios by Alberto Arce, which won a PEN Translates Award. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Free

Sesame Tiny Bakery returns to Black Bird for another cake pop-up in the garden.

Sesame Tiny Bakery is a pocket sized bakery at 2533 Seventh Street in Berkeley offering a rotating selection of unique treats and cakes showcasing delicious seasonal fruit and using all organic ingredients.

The Outer Sunset’s beloved storyteller will be sharing tales from around the world.

Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy is a storyteller, writer, workshop leader and curriculum consultant in San Francisco, where she has been an artist-in-residence in public and private schools since 1986. She has brought the joy and magic of storytelling to countless children and grown-ups over the past three decades, preserving and transmitting this ancient yet relevant art form through transformative and engaging live performances and high-quality recordings.

Free

Yuliya Patsay is a Soviet-born, SF-raised, teller of stories- most of which are at least half true. She lives in the Richmond’s 'Little Russia' with enough mishpuha close by to keep her wildly entertained! This is her first book, though hopefully not her last.

About Until the Last Pickle: A Memoir in 18 Recipes: Born to a Jewish mother and Ukrainian father during the final years of the Soviet Union, Yuliya Patsay grew up believing bread lines were a fun way to spend an afternoon, drafts caused pneumonia, and that Lenin was everyone's benevolent grandpa.

After trading pickled herring and Soviet winters for San Francisco fog and year-round produce (the real American dream!) she found herself occupying two parallel universes: the first grounded in her Soviet roots and the second in her burgeoning 'Amerikanskiye' beliefs.

Irreverent, nostalgic and vulnerable, Until the Last Pickle, is a memoir replete with remembrances, anecdotes, and exactly 18 recipes. It's an exploration of identity and belonging - at once, deeply personal and broadly relatable - told through the lens of one family's "totally average" immigration journey.

Yuliya Patsay is a storyteller, voice actor, author and professional speaker for events, webinars, and workshops specializing in topics of creativity, entrepreneurship, and the art of storytelling.

Free

Puppets, songs and stories for children.

Free