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Made You Look

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 24, 2026 • New York, NY

Hip-Hop Education Center and Maysles Documentary Center Launch H2O Community Day

A Living Archive Experience Bridging Film, Storytelling, and Cultural Preservation

A New Community Experience

The Hip-Hop Education Center (HHEC), in partnership with the Maysles Documentary Center, proudly announces the launch of H2O (Hip-Hop Odyssey) Community Day, a dynamic multidisciplinary program bringing together film, storytelling, and community-based archiving practices to engage New York City audiences in cultural preservation and collective memory-making.

Participants are not just audience members. They become contributors to a living archive.

Built on a Historic Legacy

This initiative builds on the legacy of the Hip-Hop Odyssey (H2O) International Film Festival, launched in 2002 as the first Hip-Hop film festival rooted in Harlem and the Bronx.

Reimagined for a new generation, H2O Community Day expands beyond traditional screenings into immersive, hands-on cultural experiences.

What to Expect Each Month

Hosted monthly in Central Harlem at Maysles Documentary Center, each Community Day features:

Curated Hip-Hop films centered on culture, identity, activism, education, and diasporic connection
Talkbacks with filmmakers, scholars, archivists, and artists
Hands-on archiving workshops and preservation tools
Creative community activations and collaborative storytelling

Community Archiving Lab

An interactive space where participants engage in preservation across digital, analog, and tactile formats.

  • Digitize photographs, VHS tapes, MiniDVs, and cassettes
  • Create collaborative zines
  • Join quilting projects
  • Participate in oral storytelling sessions
  • Learn practical tools to preserve personal history

Expanding the definition of what an archive can be.

Featured Activations

The Fever Vault
A seven-book archival series featuring 35 years of documentary work by Lady K Fever (Kathleena Howie), including photography, journalism, graffiti culture, and education.
Women in Hip-Hop Quilt
Founder Martha Diaz will present her Hip-Hop quilt made from Hip-Hop T-shirts and facilitate a collaborative textile archive honoring women in Hip-Hop.
Zine Workshop
Participants create community publications using selections from historical photographic archives.
Archive Digitization
Collections are preserved and transformed into lasting digital records.

Featured Screenings

  • My Atl Smile directed by Palmer Williams III
  • It Was All a Dream directed by dream hampton
  • Martha: A Picture Story directed by Selina Miles

Talkbacks include Imani Wallace and legendary photographer Martha Cooper.

Community Partners

This program is presented in partnership with organizations whose commitments to preservation, media justice, and storytelling strengthen its impact.

  • Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI)
  • Third World Newsreel
  • Maysles Documentary Center

Why It Matters

Students, artists, families, and neighbors become storykeepers—actively shaping a living archive that reflects the richness, complexity, and global influence of Hip-Hop culture.

This is preservation powered by community.

Join the Experience

Educational resources, light refreshments, and a Hip-Hop bazaar featuring merchandise and creative works will be available.