Sakkara Ingrid Thomas, known as Queen Mother Sakkara, dresses a performer. Photo courtesy of Queens Historical Society.

When Sakkara Ingrid Thomas was crowned as Long Beach’s first Miss Black Beauty in 1970, she took that title to heart and would go on to continue her reign by spreading African heritage culture throughout the city for years to come.

Realizing the value of intellect and culture, Thomas believed that people in Long Beach, especially Black youth, needed exposure to leadership and the overlooked narrative of African ancestors. And who better to embody these narratives than actual African queens throughout history, Thomas thought. She not only studied the queens but established the Queens Historical Society in West Long Beach in 1989, an organization tasked with spreading the cultural capital of African heritage, according to her husband Adisa Anderson.

Sakkara Ingrid Thomas. Photo courtesy of Queens Historical Society.

It is not unusual for Anderson to compare Thomas, who died of natural causes in October, to the woman Pharaoh Hatshepsut, noting that Hatshepsut wore a falcon crown and his late wife was like a falcon mother, “seriously protective” of her children, a mother to the community.

“Sakkara is like a large oak tree that has fallen in the forest,” said Anderson, who hosted a virtual memorial for his wife on Friday, adding that the oak has already spread its seeds, especially through QHS.

Situated on Santa Fe Avenue by Admiral Kidd Park, QHS ventures across the city and beyond to cover 3,000 years of teachings about African history, focusing on the lives of eight queens. Since its establishment, members of QHS have shared curriculum through verbal storytelling, royal attire, hosting traveling museums in Bixby Knolls as well as performing for more than 30,000, K-12 students for  nine years inside the pyramid at Cal State Long Beach, as well as an annual lecture to 500-student classes outside of the pyramid.

Thomas was a fashion designer and that helped her greatly as she created elaborate costumes and jewelry for those performing African dances, songs and storytelling. She researched African history and culture, even traveling to the country of Ghana to bargain with weavers for their fabrics.

A king and queen perform outside the pyramid at Cal State Long Beach. Photo courtesy of the Queens Historical Society.

While California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in August that made taking a three-unit ethnic studies class a graduation requirement within the California State University system, Adisa Anderson said he and his wife believed that exposing students to African culture at much younger ages remains critical in the child development of Black children. He pointed out that most Black students first learn about their African ancestors in middle school while studying the slave trade, a jarring entry into one’s history.

“The slave narrative for young learners is the first introduction to who you are,” he said. “That can not only cause trauma for a young person, but it sets, in print, what their possibilities are.”

Having visited schools in Long Beach, including West Long Beach’s Cabrillo High School, Anderson, QHS’s managing artistic director, recalls entering classrooms dressed in royal African attire and asking students to raise their hands if they are from an immigrant heritage. When it was the turn to ask if they were of African descent, he said, Black students wouldn’t raise their hands.

“African Americans are in a unique place because they are the only community that came here through forced migration,” he said, adding that he believes many Black students feel embarrassed or ashamed of their heritage.

“Who wants to raise their hand to being a slave?”

After their performances of “pageantry,” he said students are asked the question again, and Black students, with excitement, raise their hands.

The QHS documented some anonymous student reflections after they saw one of the organization’s dance performances: “I really wish that I could go to Africa and dance with them,” a student wrote for the QHS website. “I couldn’t take my eyes off the queens.”

A performer wears a costume made by Sakkara Ingrid Thomas at Cal State Long Beach. Photo courtesy of the Queens Historical Society.

For the time being, QHS has stopped operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the performances, Anderson said, rely entirely on in-person connections. However, Anderson said that once it’s safe, he and his two sons will resume the curriculum, a continuation to honor Thomas’ legacy.

Other Black Long Beach leaders have also contributed to students’ exposure to African heritage over the years. Their current attention is focused on the creation of an African American Cultural Center in Long Beach following support by the city’s Black councilmembers. Felton Williams, the outgoing school board member representing part of West and Central Long Beach, is currently serving as the president of the center in Long Beach, which was established this summer.

Williams and his team secured a temporary facility for the center on Long Beach Boulevard by 21st Street in Central Long Beach, which is estimated to open in February 2021.

The African American Cultural Center, Williams said, plans to highlight the QHS in one of their exhibits in the future.

“Black lives matter,” Anderson said. “Black history matters.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated to show that Sakkara Ingrid Thomas did not wear a falcon crown; it was a comparison that her husband, Adisa Anderson, made of her to an ancient pharaoh. A second revision was made to correct the location fo the temporary facility for the African American Cultural Center.