Connecticut College is celebrating Black History Month throughout February with lectures, a book reading, film screening and a documentary viewing and discussion.
Connecticut College is celebrating Black History Month throughout February with lectures, a book reading, film screening and a documentary viewing and discussion. The celebration begins with a kick-off event on Feb. 1 at 5 p.m. with a keynote speaker and presentation of the the College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Award to three recipients from the College community.
The following Black History Month events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jennifer Nival, Jennifer.Nival@conncoll.edu or consult the College's online calendar of events, www.conncoll.edu/events.
Feb. 1: Black History Month Kick-Off Event: “It Was All A Dream: The Intersection of Martin Luther King’s Politics and Millennial Activism”
By keynote speaker Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, Professor of History and founding Director of the Center for the Study of Popular Music, University of Connecticut. The event includes performances by Jermaine Doris '19 and special invited guest Writer’s Block. The College’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Award will be presented to three recipients: student Chakena Sims '16, staff member Jennifer Nival, the Assistant Director of Unity House and Women's Center Coordinator, and faculty member Dr. Mohamed Diagne, Associate Professor of Physics. 5-7 p.m., College Center at Crozier-Williams, 1941 Room. Sponsored by Unity House.
Feb. 3: “Scott Lewis: The Long Road to Innocence”
Recently freed after 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Scott Lewis, who was assisted by the Connecticut Innocence Project, will speak about his experience. 7 p.m., Ernst Common Room, Blaustein Humanities Center. This is a One Book One Region event.
Feb. 4: “Black Rage: Refined and Defined”
Join the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, SOAR (Students Organized Against Racism), and the Women's Center in a conversation centered around “Black Rage: Defined and Refined.” The lecture covers the validation of the emotions that move people of color to protest, ponders where it stemmed from, why it continues, and ways to use it affect change. Facilitated by Professor Nathalie Etoke and Women's Center Manager Jermaine Doris. 4:30-6 p.m., College Center at Crozier-Williams, 1941 Room.
Feb. 8: “Rainbow Coalition Organizing in Chicago: The Economic, Political and Social Impact of the Illinois Black Panther Party”
Dr. Jakobi Williams' lecture will demonstrate why and how groups imitated the Black Panther Party as a means for political and social change. 6:30-8 p.m., Ernst Common Room, Blaustein Humanities Center. Sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Institutional Equity and Inclusion. For more information, contact Lynne McCue, lemcc@conncoll.edu, 860-439-2035. This is a One Book One Region event.
Feb. 15: Film Viewing and Discussion: “CHI RAQ”
In Spike Lee’s modern-day adaptation of Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata, a gang leader’s girlfriend (Teyonah Parris) is called to action after a child is killed by a stray bullet. She convinces a group of women to help put an end to the violence in Chicago’s South Side by taking a vow of abstinence, which will only end when their men decide to bring peace to the city. 7 p.m.-11 p.m., Cro’s Nest, College Center at Crozier-Williams.
Feb. 17: “The Long Black Freedom Movement, from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter: History Lessons and Contemporary Realities”
A lecture by Barbara Ransby, historian, writer, longtime activist and author of “Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement.” Ransby is a professor of African American studies, gender and women’s studies, and history at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she directs both the campuswide Social Justice Initiative and the Gender and Women’s Studies Program. Ransby will discuss Ella Baker, one of the most influential women in the civil rights movement, and 21st-century activism. 7-8:30 p.m., Cro’s Nest, College Center at Crozier-Williams. Sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Institutional Equity and Inclusion. For more information, contact Lynne McCue, lemcc@conncoll.edu, 860-439-2035. This is a One Book One Region event.
Feb. 23: “No Way Out: Precarious Living in the Shadows of Poverty and Drug Dealing”
A book reading by Waverly Duck, professor and Connecticut College alumnus, who recently published "No Way Out: Precarious Living in the Shadows of Poverty and Drug Dealing," based on a seven-year ethnographic research project in an impoverished neighborhood in a city in the Northeast United States. 4:30 p.m., Blaustein Humanities Building, Room 210. This is a One Book One Region event.
Feb. 23: Film Screening: “Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”
The documentary combines archival footage and interviews with surviving Panthers and FBI agents to tell the story of the revolutionary black organization, the Black Panther Party. This film premiered in 2015 at the Sundance Film Festival. 7 p.m.-10 p.m., F. W. Olin Science Center, Room 14. This is a One Book One Region event.
Feb. 24: “Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” Documentary Discussion
Stanley Nelson is an African American director and producer of documentary films known for examining the history and experiences of African Americans. He will discuss his 2015 documentary, “Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.” Two events:
Common Hour, 11:50 a.m - 1 p.m., Ernst Common Room.
Discussion, 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the 1962 Room, College Center at Crozier-Williams. This is a One Book One Region event.
Feb. 24: “A Caribbean Feminism for Our Times”
Dr. Tonya Haynes will be examining the radical potential of Caribbean feminism to exploit epistemic ruptures brought about by global economic and ecological justice movements, anti-racist and anti-caste movements and transnational feminist organizing. 7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m., Blaustein Humanities Center, Hood Dining Room. Sponsored by Gender and Women’s Studies Department. For more information contact Andrea Baldwin, abaldwin@conncoll.edu.