Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California

Still I Rise: The Black IE Fight For Justice - Public Hours
2023-09-29 12:00 - 17:00, 2023-10-04 12:00 - 17:00, 2023-10-05 12:00 - 17:00, 2023-10-06 12:00 - 17:00, 2023-10-11 12:00 - 17:00, 2023-10-12 12:00 - 17:00, 2023-10-13 12:00 - 17:00, 2023-10-18 12:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) and 12 more dates | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 103, Riverside, CA, 92501, United States
The Still I Rise: The Black IE Fight for Justice Exhibit examines the lived experience of Black residents of the Inland Empire from the Great Migration to the present. Themes of Black self-reliance, home, work, education, policing, and intersectionalism bear witness to the adversity and discrimination faced by the Black community and the strategies they used to thrive in the face of adversity.
Public Hours
Wednesday – Friday
12 PM – 5 PM

Creative Activism: Artists Driving Social Justice Conversations
2023-10-05 17:30 - 20:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
Panel + Tour of Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California
This event brings emerging, established, local, and nationally-renowned artists together to discuss how art and artists drive social justice conversations in our Inland Southern California community and beyond. CRIISC’s exhibition, Still I Rise: The Black IE Fight for Justice, will be open to tour after the discussion.
Panelists:
Charles Bibbs
Mariah Green
Jon Henry
Richard Allen May III
Moderated by Sabrina Gonzalez
About the panelists:
Charles Bibbs
Charles Bibbs is an internationally acclaimed artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who is recognized for his beautiful artistic renderings that convey deep senses of spirituality, majesty, dignity, strength, and grace. He attended Los Angeles Harbor College, Long Beach City College, Cal State Dominquez Hills, and the California State University of Long Beach, where he studied in studio arts and fine art printing.
Bibbs’ work displays a unique, robust and stylized quality done in a combination of abstract and realistic interpretations of contemporary subjects that are fused into beautiful multifaceted ethnicity, larger-than-life images. His technique and style can be distinguished from most artists by the way in which he combines layers of acrylic paints and inks to obtain rich undertones of line textures.
Bibbs is the founder of Art2000 Visual Artist Association, Art On Tour, Images Magazine, The Inland Empire Music, and Arts Foundation, two publishing and distribution companies, the former B Graphics and Fine Arts and his current company, Studio B Art.
In his 47 years as an artist, Bibbs has received over 100 recognition and awards for his art and philanthropic spirit, including the “Key to the City” awards in 7 major cities across the United States. His work has been featured in major films, such as the “The Secret Life of Bees (he created the “Black Madonna” image for this movie),” television, books and CD covers including six cover designs for the Urban Knight Collection that features legendary musicians Ramsey Lewis and Grover Washington.
His works have been displayed in fine art galleries, solo and group exhibitions throughout the country and abroad, including Tokyo, Japan, and on the walls of many private collectors and organizations.
“My most important goal is to make profound aesthetic statements that are ethnically rooted, and at the same time arouse spiritual emotions within us.” Charles A. Bibbs®
www.cbibbs.com
Mariah Green
Local Inland Empire community member Mariah Green is an artist, curator, and an archivist. They primarily paint with oil paint and watercolor to explore different routes into the storytelling found in Afrofuturism. Mariah’s focus is on vehicles that could be used in the transportation into new black spaces. Applying Sun Ra’s speculation of what is on the other side of time and how music can be used as a vehicle to this destination is how Mariah approaches their creative process thinking what other vehicles could be used as transportation into blackness. They are using blackness as an imaginative space where black people from past, present, and future roam and use this space to exist without consequence. As a curator and archivist she aims to document and platform local artists living within the deep cuts of our valleys. She has curated two local exhibitions. The first titled THE DEEP CUT at ALL Eyes Gallery in San Bernardino that exhibited 15 Inland Empire photographers this past year and BLUEPRINTS at Riverside’s local PAINSUGAR Gallery on 9th street showcasing all black artists ranging from Ohio, Los Angeles, to our community member Maurice Howard. In addition they have begun an online archive titled IE ARCHIVES that dedicates itself to intentionally tell the historic and present stories in the Inland Empire through the work of its artists. With any spare time Mariah is also a columnist for an online arts publication called Variable West writing about Southern California’s IE artists.
@mariahgreenarts
Jon Henry
Jon Henry is a visual artist working with photography and text, from Queens NY (resides in Brooklyn). His work reflects on family, sociopolitical issues, grief, trauma and healing within the African American community. His work has been published both nationally and internationally and exhibited in numerous galleries including Aperture Foundation, Smack Mellon, and BRIC among others. Known foremost for the cultural activism in his work, his projects include studies of athletes from different sports and their representations.
He was recently named one of The 30 New and Emerging Photographers for 2022, TIME Magazine NEXT100 for 2021. Included in the Inaugural 2021 Silver List. He recently was awarded the Arnold Newman Grant for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture in 2020, an En Foco Fellow, one of LensCulture’s Emerging Artists and has also won the Film Photo Prize for Continuing Film Project sponsored by Kodak.
www.jonhenryphotography.com
@whoisdamaster
Richard Allen May III
Richard Allen May III is an educator, artist, writer, and scholar based in Southern California’s Inland Empire. His exhibition reviews are regularly published in the Los Angeles-based arts magazine, Artillery. He teaches Writing courses at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena and Art Writing courses at California State University, San Bernardino and California State University, Fullerton. May served as an editor and wrote the foreword to the book, AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art Toward a School of Thought (2020, Duke University Press) authored by founding member Wadsworth A. Jarrell. He also teaches Art History for Bowie State University, an HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) in Maryland. Art and poetry by May were recently published in the anthology, These Black Bodies Are… (2023, Inlandia Institute, ed. Romaine Washington).
richardmayart.com
Richard’s Artillery Magazine Byline
Richard Allen May III is teaching a selection of art workshops inspired by his work and the exhibition David C. Driskell and Friends: Creativity, Collaboration, and Friendship at UCR ARTS. Find upcoming workshops on our events calendar.
This program is held in conjunction with the exhibition David C. Driskell & Friends and is supported by the Teiger Foundation, the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at UC Riverside, and the City of Riverside.

Sunday Series
2023-10-08 14:00 - 17:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
Guest Speakers Dr. Joshua Beckley, Senior Pastor, Ecclesia Christian Fellowship, and Earl Bogan, Exhibition Advisor & Community Member discuss key elements of our new exhibit and an opportunity to tour our inaugural exhibition, ‘Still I Rise: The Black IE Fight for Justice.’ The Sunday series will be bi-monthly.

National Coming Out Day Panel Discussion
2023-10-11 17:00 - 20:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
National Coming Out Day Panel Discussion
Welcome – Councilperson Erin Edwards
Moderator – Councilperson – Clarissa Cervantes
Panelists:

Amber Bolden – Embolden Consulting
Ariel Savage – Public Affairs Manager, TruEvolution, Inc.
Chani Beeman – Consultant & Community Member
David Giron – VP & Fundraising Director, Riverside Pride

Book Launch - Exit Prohibited: A Memoir of Iran by Ellen Estilai
2023-10-19 18:30 - 20:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
Inlandia Institute—in partnership with the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California—is proud to announce the launch of Exit Prohibited: A Memoir of Iran by Ellen Estilai, newly published by Inlandia Books. The launch is planned for Thursday, October 19, at 6:30 PM at the Civil Rights Institute of Southern California, 3933 Mission Inn Blvd, Suite 103, in Riverside. Books will be available for sale and signing.
This event is free and open to the public, and will be celebrated with music, refreshments, and conversation. Please join us!
About Exit Prohibited
Exit Prohibited explores a side of Iran and Iranians seldom portrayed in popular media. It follows Ellen Estilai and her family after the 1979 Iranian Revolution as they attempt to leave Tehran, their home of nine years. At the airport, Ali, Ellen’s Iranian husband, is inexplicably prevented from leaving. As he confronts hostile colleagues and the Islamic Republic’s opaque bureaucracy, Estilai examines their lives, trying to understand what might have brought them to this point. It is a story of an Iran that is at once welcoming and hostile, progressive and traditional, enamored of and distrustful of the West—an Iran as complex as Estilai’s relationship to it.
Ellen Estilai has spent much of her career collaborating with artists, writers, and agencies to strengthen communities through the arts. She has served as the executive director of the Riverside Arts Council and the Arts Council for San Bernardino County, and has taught English language, literature, and writing in universities in Iran and California. Because Ellen and her husband have been immigrants in each other’s countries, her writing frequently explores the joys and tribulations of the immigrant experience.
Inlandia workshops and events are supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov. The event is presented in partnership with the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California and is funded in part by a grant from the City of Riverside.

Creating an Engaged Community
2023-10-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
Brought to you by: Latino Network, Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California, Riverside African American Historical Society, Inc., Riverside Interfaith Council and UNIDOS FOR LA CAUSA.
Join us for a fun-filled day at the Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California in Riverside. Our festival aims to bring people together and foster a sense of community engagement. Get ready for a day of wonderful music, inspiring talks, and light refreshments. Whether you’re passionate about social justice, environmental issues, or simply want to connect with like-minded individuals, this event is for you. Come and be a part of our vibrant community as we work towards creating a more inclusive and empowered society. Mark your calendars and don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity!
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Sunday Series - CANCELED
2023-10-29 14:00 - 16:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Amina Carter and Joseph Williams are no longer available to be in conversation for our 10/29 Sunday Series so we have decided to cancel this event. However, we hope you will join us for our next Sunday Series event on Sunday, 11/12.

Veterans for the Arts Group Exhibition - Opening Reception
2023-11-02 18:00 - 20:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 103, Riverside, CA, 92501, United States
Due to unforeseen circumstances, tonight’s Veterans Arts Exhibition and opening has been canceled. We are hoping to open the exhibition next week. Please check back here or our website for the latest updates.
Join the Riverside Arts Council and the Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California in a celebration of the arts created by the brave veterans in our region who served our country. The exhibition will feature 12 artists who work in various media and hear about how some veterans use artistic expression as a tool to mitigate and/or overcome the traumas experienced during their time serving our nation. The opening reception will feature a panel discussion moderated by Rachael Dzikonski, Executive Director of the Riverside Arts Council, with guest panelists Gregory Coffos, Director of Veterans Affairs for Riverside County, Assistant Director Adam French and more. Come out and show your support during the First Thursdays Artswalk at the Civil Rights Institute of Southern California.
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Veterans for the Arts Group Exhibition - Veteran's Day Celebration
2023-11-11 12:00 - 16:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 103, Riverside, CA, 92501, United States
Art demos, vendors and family activities with Special guest artist unveiling, plus access to the Veterans for the Arts Group Exhibition.
Join the Riverside Arts Council and the Civil Rights Institute Inland Southern California in a celebration of the arts created by the brave veterans in our region who served our country. The exhibition will feature 12 artists who work in various media and hear about how some veterans use artistic expression as a tool to mitigate and/or overcome the traumas experienced during their time serving our nation.
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Sunday Series
2023-11-12 14:00 - 16:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
Guest Speakers: C.A. Anderson, Author and Educator.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Orange Valley Lodge #13.
Sam Casey, Senior Pastor, New Life Christian Church, Fontana Director of C.O.P.E.

Invisible Houseless Communities
2023-11-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, Bank of America Diversity Center, 3933 Mission Inn Ave., Suite 102, Riverside, 92501
The Impact on Children and Elders
Panelist

Sandra Bowers
Inland Empire Regional Director , Hope Through Housing
Marcus Dillard
Chief of Homeless Services, San Bernardino County
Rainbow Marler
Street Outreach Program Director, Operation Safe House

Moderator

Launa Wilson
CRIISC Board Member
