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A Livermore High School event aimed at fostering a sense of belonging among Black students and their families has drawn pushback on social media, prompting community members to defend the gathering as an important opportunity for marginalized families to build connections.
The event, “African American Family Engagement Night,” is set for 6-7 p.m. Oct. 29 at the school and was planned in conjunction with the school’s Black Student Union. The evening is intended as a community-building event in a district where just 1.4% of students, or 184 kids, identify as African American, according to the 2026 California School Dashboard.
“Join us as we connect, build community and create a welcoming space for Black families and students at Livermore High School,” the event flyer reads. While the event is focused on the school’s Black community, all families who wish to attend are welcome, district officials said Monday.
On Oct. 16, someone posted a photo of the school’s electronic message board advertising “Black Family Night” on the semi-public Facebook group Livermore Rants and Raves, drawing more than 250 comments as of Oct. 26.
While some of the commenters appeared confused, inaccurately speculating that the event might be for a family with the last name Black or an event honoring Emanuel Moseby, a Livermore High student who was shot and killed in 2019, others questioned the need for the event or complained that it excluded other families.
“I believe in separate but equal, but unless the high school has a “White Family Night” or “Asian Family Night,” or any other ethnicity family night, it’s not equal,” one comment read. “What’s wrong with simply ‘Family Night?’ This opens the door to all kinds of bigotry and culturally sets us back over 50 years.”
“Segregated family night? Dang LHS,” another commenter wrote.
Those comments in turn drew a flurry of responses from others expressing support for the event and questioning the negative reactions.
“Instead of making an obviously racist post, ask LHS staff for information on the event,” one person wrote.
“What’s the problem?” another person wrote.
A third noted, “Comments are exactly what I expected,” while another commenter called it sad that people were “triggered or upset” about the event.
The Black Bay Area, an organization that focuses on relationship- and community-building among Black residents of and visitors to the Bay Area, also responded to the post.
On its Facebook page, the organization shared a screenshot of the initial post with a comment underneath calling the event “lame.”
“Looks like we found the racist . . . ” the organization posted.
Livermore school district officials declined to comment on the event, instead referring Livermore Vine to the calendar listing on the high school’s website. Officials also declined a request from Livermore Vine to speak to members of the school’s Black Student Union.
Officials at African American Regional Educational Alliances, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Black students in the Bay Area and longtime partner of the Livermore district, could not be reached for comment.
Livermore Poet Laureate Faith Alpher, an actress, comedian and radio personality who is also a member of Tri-Valley for Black Lives, said the online dispute was “a little disappointing.”
“It’s no secret there aren’t many Black families in Livermore, so this is a safe space,” Alpher said of the event.
Alpher said people were “making excuses about race and anger” and invoked her spoken word poem, “Stand Up.”
“Let’s turn love and compassion into an assassin,” she said. “Let’s stand up. Let’s not excuse hate, debate the power of words.”
Mark Duncanson, a local performing arts and teaching artist who commented on the post, said in an interview that while it’s no surprise to find people “ready to argue and be nasty” on social media, “I was baffled at how people were upset just by a picture and just by the words.”
He said the gathering of marginalized people is not meant as a threat to anyone or as exclusionary.
When Black folks are “able to find commonality and feel good about gathering, and telling people we’re gathering, I think that’s a good thing,” he said.
