The best Black History Month events in NYC

If you’re like many other New Yorkers, “outdoors” is the distance you walk between your apartment and the corner bodega or, if you’re lucky, a stroll through your nearest urban park. Outlandish, the Brooklyn-based store that makes hiking feel cool again, is celebrating their 2nd year anniversary with an "easy" 5-mile hike along Silvermine and Nawahunta Lakes just outside of New York City. Get your $20 tickets here. 

When we think of brands that have shaped the trajectory of New York fashion, KITH would definitely have to be at the top of that list. The beloved label created by Ronnie Fieg in 2011 has worked with heavy hitters, including Adidas and Nike, to expand New York's irreverent fashion sensibilities globally. It's latest collaborator, though, is much closer to home: Brooklyn Museum.

In an iconic partnership we're very excited for, KITH and the Brooklyn Museum created a joint collection in honor of Black History Month, celebrating artists from the borough through rare, limited-edition garments available until the end of the month.

New York City's Black community contributes to making New York one of the best food cities in the world, and there are plenty of amazing Black-owned restaurants and bars to choose from. Whether it's Melba's, Sylvia's, Hav & Mar, BKLYN Blend, Peaches or Charles Pan Fried Chicken, there's no shortage of Black-owned restaurants to eat at, so make sure to check out a list of our favorites.

Head to the Met to checm out "Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now," a temporary exhibit that explores how Black artists and other cultural figures have engaged with ancient Egypt through visual, sculptural, literary, musical, scientific, scholarly, religious, political, and performative pursuits. Expect to see nearly 200 works of art that traces 150 years. Some sections examine how Black creatives have employed ancient Egyptian imagery to craft a unifying identity, while other sections dig into the contributions of Black scholars to the study of ancient Egypt.

Depending on what you learned in high school history class, you might be surprised to discover that Brooklyn—an area firmly in the northern Union states—actually has significant ties to slavery. A new exhibit coming to the borough digs into that painful history.

Titled "Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn," the exhibit will open at the Center for Brooklyn History on January 30. While there are few firsthand testimonies from enslaved people in Brooklyn, the exhibit offers clues to what they endured. It also sheds light on the often-overlooked narratives of enslaved individuals in Kings County and the generational legacies of inequality. The exhibit is free to visit through August 30 in the center's Fransioli Gallery.

The Free Black Women’s Library is a free library in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood, which also serves as a social art project, a reading room, a co-working space and a community gathering center. The library "celebrates the brilliance, diversity and imagination of Black women and Black non-binary authors." All 5,000 books in the library's collection are written by Black women and non-binary authors.