‘Black 2 the Future’ concert in Sebastopol raises funds for Santa Rosa Junior College’s Black Student Union

More than 120 people gathered at HopMonk Tavern in Sebastopol Feb. 18 for an evening of hip-hop, reggae and soul during the inaugural “Black 2 the Future” benefit concert.

The show, featuring a lineup of local artists, celebrated Black History Month while raising money for the Black Student Union at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa.

Local rapper Damion Square, who performs under the name D.square and runs event promotion group Decolonized Mindz, and Josh Windmiller, director of development at nonprofit Santa Rosa venue The Lost Church produced the event.

Tickets were $17-$22 a piece, with a portion of each ticket sale going to the student group.

The show raised “several hundred dollars” for the student union, which offers its members peer mentoring and opportunities for community service, according to Square.

Windmiller described the benefit, which organizers plan to hold again next year, as a “mini festival.”

The show began in HopMonk’s beer garden, where Audio Angel, Crumb Dread, and Simoné Mosely performed for the early crowd beginning at 5:30 p.m. The show moved into HopMonk’s indoor Abby venue at 9 p.m. for hip-hop performances by Kayatta, Erica Ambrin, and D.square, all backed by a live band.

In between the outdoor and indoor shows, Square presented service recognition awards to local Black leaders including the Rev. Dr. Lee Turner of Community Baptist Church in Santa Rosa; Natalie Rogers, the first Black woman mayor of Santa Rosa; Jackie Elward, the first Black woman mayor in Rohnert Park, Nancy Rogers, the community organizer behind the local Juneteenth celebration and Letitia Hanke, owner of ARS Roofing and founder of local nonprofit The Lime Foundation.

For Square, a graduate of SRJC and former president of the Black Student Union, the event aimed to help the club that helped him. “As a student that's a part of a club, I know how hard it is to operate a club when you’re trying to juggle classes and homework,” he said.

For more information about the Black Student Union at SRJC, go to bit.ly/3KBG0S6.