Hip-Hop Education Center and Maysles Documentary Center Launch H2O (Hip-Hop Odyssey) Community Day in Harlem

The launch of H2O (Hip-Hop Odyssey) Community Day, a monthly program in Harlem that brings film, storytelling, and hands-on archiving together in one space.

With H2O Community Day, we’re creating a space where people can see themselves as historians of their own lives, where their photos, memories, and creative expressions become part of a living archive.”

— Martha Diaz, Founder & President, Hip-Hop Education Center

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, March 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Hip-Hop Education Center (HHEC), in partnership with the Maysles Documentary Center, announces the launch of H2O (Hip-Hop Odyssey) Community Day, a monthly program in Central Harlem that brings film, storytelling, and hands-on archiving together in one space.

Building on the legacy of the Hip-Hop Odyssey International Film Festival, founded in 2002 in Harlem and the Bronx, this new iteration expands beyond screenings. Community Day invites participants to actively preserve Hip-Hop history by contributing their own stories, media, and creative work to a growing, living archive.

Held at Maysles Documentary Center, each event features curated film screenings followed by conversations with filmmakers, scholars, and artists. Films are selected by Martha Diaz and Robert “Black Robb” Graham, with a focus on cultural impact, artistic excellence, and underrepresented voices across themes like identity, activism, and education.

A central feature of the program is the Community Archiving Lab, where attendees can digitize personal materials, including photographs, VHS tapes, MiniDV footage, and cassettes, using on-site transfer stations. Participants can also take part in zine-making, quilting, and storytelling sessions that highlight personal and intergenerational histories.

“Hip-Hop has always been about storytelling, community, and innovation. With H2O Community Day, we’re creating a space where people can see themselves as historians of their own lives—where their photos, memories, and creative expressions become part of a living archive that honors the past while shaping the future.” — Martha Diaz, Founder & President, Hip-Hop Education Center

The program launches with a special activation featuring The Fever Vault, a seven-book archival series documenting 35 years of work by Lady K Fever (Kathleena Howie). As part of the event, selections from her collection will be digitized, and she will lead a zine workshop using her photography.

Martha Diaz, Founder and President of HHEC, will also present her Hip-Hop quilt, created from Hip-Hop T-shirts, and lead a collaborative Women in Hip-Hop quilt project, inviting attendees to contribute to a shared textile archive.

Screenings include My ATL Smile (dir. Palmer Williams III), It Was All A Dream (dir. Dream Hampton), and Martha: A Picture Story (dir. Selina Miles), followed by talkbacks with featured guests including award-winning filmmaker and journalist dream hampton, poet and scholar Imani Wallace and legendary photographer Martha Cooper.

H2O Community Day is presented in partnership with the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) and Third World Newsreel. The event will also include educational resources, light refreshments, and a Hip-Hop bazaar featuring local artists and vendors.
By centering community participation, H2O Community Day creates a space where people are not just audiences, but contributors,preserving their own stories and shaping how Hip-Hop history is documented and shared.

March 28, 2026 - H2O Community Day Programming

1:00 PM -2:00 PM - Photography Exhibition and Artist Talk with Lady K Fever

2:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Film Screenings and Talkback:
- My ATL Smile
a Short Film by Palmer Williams III

- It Was All A Dream
a Documentary by dream hampton
Talkback w/dream hampton, Imani Wallace & Nia Whitmal

- Martha: A Picture Story
a Documentary by Selina Miles
Talkback with Martha Cooper, Black Robb & Martha Diaz

For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.maysles.org/calendar/community-day-and-archiving-lab

About Hip-Hop Education Center:
The mission of HHEC is to empower individuals and communities by catalyzing social change and educational equity through research, curated curricula, collaborative programming, career and leadership training, and the development of a living archive. Our vision is to cultivate and elevate Hip-Hop education and make it accessible to all.

About Maysles Documentary Center:
Maysles Documentary Center (MDC) is a Harlem-based nonprofit organization committed to community, education, and documentary film. We use filmmaking to amplify and expand under-represented artists and narratives, while empowering young filmmakers in creative self-expression, communicating ideas, and advocating needs

UniQue Webster
Hip-Hop Education Center
+1 917-330-6413
email us here

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