Participate in Black Cultural Celebrations in Berkeley, CA supporting important causes and bringing your community together. These events celebrate cultural heritage while raising awareness and funds for organizations serving the Black community.
Join us in centering women of color storytelling through spoken word and performance.
The Empowering Women of Color Open Mic is back!
We’ve missed you! Join us for an evening of live music, spoken word, radical storytelling, and powerful performances that uplift and celebrate the creativity of women* of color.
This beloved open mic is a long-standing collaboration between La Peña Cultural Center and UC Berkeley’s Women of Color Initiative, serving as the launch event of the Empowering Women of Color Conference (EWOCC) - one of the nation’s longest-running conferences addressing the needs and experiences of womxn of color. Since its founding in 1985, EWOCC has brought together activists, artists, scholars, and community leaders to advance intersectional feminist movements rooted in justice and solidarity.
Rooted in Black feminism and collective joy, this open mic welcomes everyone into a sacred space that centers the voices, stories, and expressions of women of color, while inviting all to witness, listen, and be in community.
Come be part of an inspiring community grounded in love, art, and liberation.
*We use “women” as an inclusive term embracing all who experience or connect with womanhood through identity, spirit, or lived experience, past, present, future, and fluid, while honoring the diverse ways gender is expressed, including by trans and non-binary folks.
Friday, 13, 20.00 -
Friday, 13, 22.00
Berkeley,
CA
_$25
The 41st Annual Empowering Womxn of Color Conference will be held on March 14, 2026. Join us to celebrate each other and community!
In this 41st Annual EWOCC, we set out to create a space to celebrate the radical, unyielding, and deeply intentional love that womxn of color embody as we build, resist, heal, and transform. We will reflect on the importance of community building, solidarity, and collective power while embracing self-care and love. We will be featuring workshop presenters, a Q&A panelist session, as well as a catered lunch and light refreshments!
$1 of each ticket sale will go towards the payment of our Shuumi Land Tax. The Shuumi Land Tax is a voluntary annual contribution that non-Indigenous people living on the Confederated Villages of Lisjan’s territory can make to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.
Conference Agenda:
9:00AM Check-in + Breakfast + Entertainment
10:00AM Welcome + Opening Circle
11:00AM Morning Workshops
12:30PM Panel Session + Vendor Fair + Lunch
3:00PM Afternoon Workshops
4:30PM Closing + Entertainment
The 2026 conference artwork is designed by Soni Lopez-Chavez. Born in Cuitzeo de Abasolo in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, Soni pulls from her Chichimeca heritage and lived experience as a first-generation immigrant to empower historically marginalized communities. Soni’s art covers a wide variety of different topics and causes. A representation of her Indigenous ancestry, her life lived back and forth between two nations.
Saturday, 14, 09.00 -
Saturday, 14, 17.00
Berkeley,
CA
_$25
Join us for student performances inspired by the Black Renaissance. Young authors in 826 Valencia's Black Students Initiative will showcase their original work for their community. All are welcome to attend!
Presented in partnership with the Museum of the African Diaspora.
Thursday, 26, 17.00 -
Thursday, 26, 18.30
San Francisco,
CA
_$25
Join us in centering women of color storytelling through spoken word and performance.
The Empowering Women of Color Open Mic is back!
We’ve missed you! Join us for an evening of live music, spoken word, radical storytelling, and powerful performances that uplift and celebrate the creativity of women* of color.
This beloved open mic is a long-standing collaboration between La Peña Cultural Center and UC Berkeley’s Women of Color Initiative, serving as the launch event of the Empowering Women of Color Conference (EWOCC) - one of the nation’s longest-running conferences addressing the needs and experiences of womxn of color. Since its founding in 1985, EWOCC has brought together activists, artists, scholars, and community leaders to advance intersectional feminist movements rooted in justice and solidarity.
Rooted in Black feminism and collective joy, this open mic welcomes everyone into a sacred space that centers the voices, stories, and expressions of women of color, while inviting all to witness, listen, and be in community.
Come be part of an inspiring community grounded in love, art, and liberation.
*We use “women” as an inclusive term embracing all who experience or connect with womanhood through identity, spirit, or lived experience, past, present, future, and fluid, while honoring the diverse ways gender is expressed, including by trans and non-binary folks.
Thursday, 26, 17.00 - Thursday, 26, 18.30
Berkeley, CA
11.97
The 41st Annual Empowering Womxn of Color Conference will be held on March 14, 2026. Join us to celebrate each other and community!
In this 41st Annual EWOCC, we set out to create a space to celebrate the radical, unyielding, and deeply intentional love that womxn of color embody as we build, resist, heal, and transform. We will reflect on the importance of community building, solidarity, and collective power while embracing self-care and love. We will be featuring workshop presenters, a Q&A panelist session, as well as a catered lunch and light refreshments!
$1 of each ticket sale will go towards the payment of our Shuumi Land Tax. The Shuumi Land Tax is a voluntary annual contribution that non-Indigenous people living on the Confederated Villages of Lisjan’s territory can make to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.
Conference Agenda:
9:00AM Check-in + Breakfast + Entertainment
10:00AM Welcome + Opening Circle
11:00AM Morning Workshops
12:30PM Panel Session + Vendor Fair + Lunch
3:00PM Afternoon Workshops
4:30PM Closing + Entertainment
The 2026 conference artwork is designed by Soni Lopez-Chavez. Born in Cuitzeo de Abasolo in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, Soni pulls from her Chichimeca heritage and lived experience as a first-generation immigrant to empower historically marginalized communities. Soni’s art covers a wide variety of different topics and causes. A representation of her Indigenous ancestry, her life lived back and forth between two nations.
Thursday, 26, 17.00 - Thursday, 26, 18.30
Berkeley, CA
16.00
Join us for student performances inspired by the Black Renaissance. Young authors in 826 Valencia's Black Students Initiative will showcase their original work for their community. All are welcome to attend!
Presented in partnership with the Museum of the African Diaspora.
Thursday, 26, 17.00 - Thursday, 26, 18.30
San Francisco, CA
0.00