Black History Month Calendar

Diversity and Multicultural Affairs encourages everyone to participate and attend as many events as possible to celebrate black history and promote unity on our campus and in the community.


Mural of Greensboro Sit-In

Continuing throughout the month

Location: School of Government, Knapp-Sanders Building, Contact: Anne Cary Simpson by Telephone: (919) 966 9780.

Description: A creative interpretation of the Greensboro, North Carolina, sit-in of 1960, SERVICE is the first in a series of murals that will commemorate the contributions of African Americans and Native Americans to the state.


Black and Blue Tour

Continuing throughout the month

Time: Mondays at 4:00pm, Wednesdays at 3:00pm, Fridays at 2:00pm, Location: Unsung Founders Memorial, McCorkle Place

Description: The Black & Blue tour explores the many roles black people have played on UNC’s campus from 1793 to the present. The tour highlights the history of slavery and race as identified on campus.


Carolina Dining Services presents Black History Month Themed Dinners

Continuing throughout the month

Location: Rams Head Dining Hall—Top of Lenoir

February 8th: African Cuisine at Worlds Fare, February15th: Creole/ Cajun Cookin’ at Worlds Fare, February 22nd: Southern Homestyle at Worlds Fare, February 29th: Closing Dinner Celebration

Description: The dining halls will be highlighting Black History themed meals throughout the month of February. Also, there will be Black History Month trivia displayed every day, so be sure to follow and friend Carolina Dining Services on Twitter and Facebook for information on how you can win prizes!


An Evening with Dr. Franklin McClain and Joseph McNeil of the Greensboro Four

January 31st

Time: 6:30pm, Location: Gerrard Hall

Description: Dr. Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil, two of the Greensboro Four will discuss their decision, the aftermath, and the lessons that we can learn from the movement. Tickets are free for students and the general public and can be acquired at the Memorial Hall box office beginning January 25th. Sponsored by the Carolina Union Activities Board and the Mu Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.


NAACP Press Conference

February 1st

Time: 5:15pm, Location: Steps of South Building,

Description: Reverend Barber, the NC NAACP President, and several UNC-system students will be speaking out about how the recent tuition increases across the UNC System will affect our lives, our universities,
and our state. He will also speak on the decreasing accessibility to public higher education. The press conference is being hosted by the UNC NAACP.


Black History Month Kick-off Jamboree

February 1st

Time: 6:00pm, Location: SASB North, Upendo Lounge

Description: Start off Black History Month with a social event designed to celebrate culture. There will be performances by Achordants, Ebony Readers Onyx Theatre, Opeyo! and Will Wildfire. Food and beverages will be served! Join us as we highlight all that UNC has planned for February 2012.


Howard Craft Workshops: “Stories in thE Air: Writing Radio Drama”

February 1st, 14th, 22nd, and 29th

Time: 6:30pm, Location: Hitchcock Multipurpose Room, Sonja Haynes Stone Center

Description:In a series of 4 workshops, taught by Stone Center artist in residence, Howard Craft, students will learn how to create interesting characters, write authentic dialogue, and develop engaging plot lines through the writing of their own six-minute serial.


Department of Radiology Diversity Committee- School of Medicine

February 1st additional dates to be determined later pending room availability

Time: 5-7pm, Location: McNider, Room 18 Contact: Laurie Birdsong

Description: Book Club: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks


Center for the Study of the American South The Carolina Chocolate Drops Performance and Lecture

February 3rd

Lecture, Time: 7-7:30pm, Location: Gerrard Hall Contact: Ellen James at (919) 843-0516

Description: Members of Carolina Chocolate Drops join Dr. Jerma A. Jackson, associate professor in the History Department at UNC, for a discussion of music and culture prior to their performance at Memorial Hall. Dr. Jackson will be offering insights from her research and teaching focusing on African American life, religion, music and women’s history.

Performance, Time: 8pm Location: Memorial Hall Contact: Carolina Performing Arts

Description: The Carolina Chocolate Drops are the newest and youngest players in a long lineage of Black String Bands. The tradition traces its roots to musicians from Africa who came to the Americas in the holds of slave ships.


The joint SERSAS/SEAN conference

February 3rd to February 4th 

Time: Begins at 6pm, Location: Fed Ex Global Education Center, Contact: http://www.ecu.edu/african/sersas/homepage.htm

Description: advanced students to present your works-in-progress or polished papers at the spring 2012 SERSAS/SEAN conference hosted by the African Studies Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. Check web page for details.


Zumbathon

February 9th 

Time: 5:30pm, Location: Student Rec Center, Studios A/B

Description: Campus Recreation has partnered with the Black Student Movement for the Spring 2012 Zumbathon! The event promotes healthy habits while recognizing Black History Month through (4) 20-minute Zumba sessions. Enjoy free refreshments from Jersey Mike's while watching performances by UNC Student Organizations, including the Achordants, Phi Beta Sigma, and Que Rico! Tickets can be purchased in SRC Main Office with Cash or One Card. Tickets will be on sale through Wednesday, February 8th. Space is limited!


Four Electric Ghosts, An Opera Masquerade by Mendi + Keith Obadike Performance and lecture

February 9th

Lecture, Time: 6:30-7pm, Location: Gerrard Hall, Contact: Ellen James at (919) 843-0516

Description: Dr. Joseph Jordan, Director of the Stone Center for Black Culture and History. He is also the Interim Director of the Institute for African American Research and teaches in African/African American Studies Department at UNC-Chapel Hill. His curatorial work includes more than 27 visual art and historical exhibitions, as well as production credits for five independent films, This talk is in conjunction with Four Electric Ghosts: An Opera-Masquerade by Mendi + Keith Obadike.

Performance, Time: 7:30 pm, Location: Memorial Hall, Contact: www.carolinaperformingarts.org or call the Memorial Hall Box Office at (919) 843-3333

Description: This fantastically futuristic multimedia romp creates a composite world at the intersection of game culture, folk tales and pop songs. Inspired by Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola’s 1954 novel My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Japanese video game designer Tori Iwatani’s influential 1980s arcade game Pac Man, Four Electric Ghosts follows the afterlives of four ghosts who encounter the same mortal in their journey through the Land of the Dead. 


“Mississippi Masala” (1991, Dir. Mira Nair, Fiction, 118 min)

February 9th

Time: 7:00pm, Location: Varsity Theater, Contact: Ackland Film Forum

Description: Set in modern day Mississippi, this film traces the difficult love story of Meena, the daughter of Ugandan-Indian refugees, and Demetrius, an African American man. This film is presented as part of the Center for the Study of the American South’s “Southern Film Series,” whose theme for 2011-12 is “the changing demographics of the American south.” 


Dry Run: Defining Determination, Testing Reconstruction

February 9th

Time: 7:00pm, Location: Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery and Museum, Sonja Haynes Stone Center

Description: From February 9 - April 30, 2012, The Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery and Museum will feature the work of Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier, in an exhibition entitled “Dry Run: Defining Determination, Testing Reconstruction.” In this latest work, Marshall-Linnemeier explores notions of experimentation, reconstruction and the idea of self-determination through the Penn Center papers and photographs held
in the Southern Historical Collection of the Wilson Library at UNC.


HK on J

February 11th

Time: 9:30am, Location: Shaw University

Description: HK on J is a march to support equal access to sound education, racial justice, abolishing the death penalty and a number of other important civil liberties concerns.


Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Performance and Lecture

February 13th and 14th

Lecture, Time: 6:30-7pm, Location: Historic Playmakers Theater, Contact: Ellen James at (919) 843-0516

Description: Dr. Louise Toppin acclaimed international opera performer and chair of vocal studies at UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Music. This talk is in conjunction with the performance by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Performance, Time: 7:30pm, Location: Memorial Hall, Contact: www.carolinaperformingarts.org or call the Memorial Hall Box Office at (919) 843-3333.

Description: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater started in 1958, led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African-American modern dancers, whose performances forever changed the perception of American dance.  In 2008, a U.S. Congressional resolution designated the company as “a vital American cultural ambassador to the world” that celebrates the uniqueness of the African-American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage.


Writer's Discussion Series with Katherine Charron, author of “Freedom's Teacher: The life of Septima Clark”

February 16th

Time: 3:30pm, Location: Bull’s Head Bookshop

Description: Charron is an Associate Professor of History at North Carolina State University. In this biography, Katherine Charron demonstrates Clark’s crucial role--and the role of many black women teachers—in making education a cornerstone of the twentieth-century freedom struggle.


Kent Reilly, Professor of Archaeology and Director, Center for the Study of Arts and Symbolism of Ancient America, Texas State University

February 16th

Time: 4:30pm, Location: Kresge Foundation Common Room (039), Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence.

Description:The art and iconography of the prehistoric Mississippian Period of the Southeastern U.S.


Chapel Hill Black History Month March

February 16th

Time: 7:00pm, Location: Old Post Office on Franklin Street. The march will continue to First Baptist Church where there will be a service.

Description: March


HIstory Department

February 17th

Time: 7:00pm, Location: Sonja Haynes Stone Center, Contact: Latissa Davis at 919.962.9825

Description: Actor and UNC MFA alum Mike Wiley will perform a play created for the history department’s African American History Month series on themes of African Americans and the Civil War.


2012 Carolina Black Caucus African American Read-In

February 17th

Time: 6:00pm, Location: Stone Center Auditorium.

Description: African American Read-In open to everyone!


Disability Services and Meeting the Demands of University Life

February 17th

Time: 12:00 noon-1:30pm, Location: Graham Memorial, Room 011

Description: with Jim Kessler, Director, Disability Support Services, and Tiffany Bailey, Assistant Director, Disability Support Services


African Skies

February 18th

Time: 9:30- 10:15am, Location: Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, UNC Campus, Contact: web site

Description: African cultures. What astronomical objects and events do those myths and legends describe? Aimed at children ages 7-12 and their families. $5 per person ($4 per Morehead member).


Mama Dip’s Brunch

February 18th

Time: 11:00am, Location: Mama Dip's Traditional Country Cooking, 408 W Rosemary Street, Contact: Email to RSVP and arrange a time to pick up your ticket(s).

Description: Mama Dip was a cook in Chapel Hill throughout the 1950s and 60s. In 1976, Mama Dip opened her own restaurant with $64! Join us as we hear about Mama Dip’s amazing story and enjoy a delicious brunch. Space is limited! Tickets will be available from Black Student Movement members.


Stagville Under the Stars!

February 18th

Time: 7:30-9:30pm FREE Location: Historic Stagville, Durham Contact: http://www.stagville.org/events/

Description: Stagville will partner with Morehead Planetarium again to celebrate Black History Month!


Challenges of Change: Poetics of Change and the “Colonial System” in the 19th Century Caribbean  

February 18th

Time: 9:30-11am, Location: Fed Ex Global Education Center, Room 1009, Contact: http://global.unc.edu/.

Description: Various Readings: Aude Dieudé (Duke Romance Studies), “’Why would we not unveil the crimes of those dealers in human flesh and those loathsome colonists? Deborah Jenson (Duke Romance Studies), “The Poetry of Independence in Haiti” Reginald Patterson (Duke Romance Studies), “Concording the Bamboo Canon: A Case Study of 19th Century Global Creolophone Literature”


Race Relations and Afro-Brazilian Culture              

February 18th

Time: 11:15am-12:45pm, Location: Fed Ex Global Education Center, Room 1005, Contact: http://global.unc.edu/

Description: Participants: Kia Lilly Caldwell (UNC African & Afro-American Studies) “Anti-Racist Public Policies and Cultural Shifts in Brazil” Elizabeth Hordge Freeman (Duke Sociology) “Battling the Enemy Within: Racial Socialization and Differential Treatment in Brazilian Families” Robert N. Anderson (Winston-Salem State University English and Foreign Languages) “Afro-Brazilian cultural production: emerging canon and themes”


Black History Month Keynote Speaker: Bernice Johnson Reagon      

February 20th

Time: 7:00pm, Location: Sonja Haynes Stone Center Auditorium

Description: Bernice Johnson Reagon will deliver the university-wide Black History Month Lecture. Reagon is a civil rights icon and Professor of History at American University. She has used her voice for cultural freedom and justice. Reagon is a composer, song leader, scholar and producer born in the struggle against racism in America during the Civil Rights Movement.


DIV 201: The image of blacks in public media: From Driving Miss Daisy to the Bell Curve to MAdea to  The Help          

February 21st

Time: 1:30-3:30pm, Location: Student Union 3102, Contact: M. Cookie Newsom, Ph.D.

Description: Please join Dr. Cookie Newsom for an interactive discussion of the public portrayal of African Americans in electronic and print media. A bibliography will be provided for further reading for those interested in exploring the subject further.


More than a Month Documentary Film Screening    

February 21st

Time: 6:00pm, Location: Sonja Haynes Stone Center Auditorium

Description: More Than A Month is a feature documentary that follows Shukree Hassan Tilghman, an African-American filmmaker, on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. Through this challenging, complex and often comedic journey, the film explores what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in “post-racial” America.


Writer's Discussion Series with Kenneth Broun, author of "Saving Nelson Mandela: The rivonta trail and the fate of south africa"

February 23rd

Time: 2:00pm, Location: Bull's Head Bookshop

Description: Broun is the Henry Brandis Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In Saving Nelson Mandela, South African law expert Kenneth S. Broun recreates the trial--called the “Rivonia” Trial after the Johannesburg suburb where police seized Mandela.


Homophobia in Minority Communities

February 23rd

Time: 7:00pm, Location: Manning 209

Description: An interactive panel discussion on the stigma surrounding homosexuality in minority communities.


Minority Health conference

February 24th

Time: 8:00am, Location: Friday Center

Description: The Minority Health Conference provides a forum for researchers and practitioners to tackle the issues facing minority populations with the hopes of improving the health status of those communities. The theme for this year’s conference, “Translational Research: The Road from Efficacy to Equity,” highlights the importance of translating scientific discoveries into effective strategies and policies intended to eliminate health disparities. This year’s conference will include an inter-disciplinary panel of speakers who bring diverse perspectives and will challenge us to think more critically about our approaches to health and equity. We invite you to join our efforts in building a movement towards improving minority health and eradicating health disparities.


Christian McBride & Inside Straight

February 24th

Time: 8:00pm, Location: Memorial Hall, Contact: web site

Description: Part of the UNC Jazz Festival.


Sixth annual New Perspectives Conference: Triangle African American History Colloquium (TAAHC)       

February 24th and 25th

Time: Conference begins at 8:00am, Location: Hyde Hall, Contact: http://taahc.web.unc.edu/.

Description: “Defining Freedom in African American History and Culture," and our keynote address, titled, "'The Rising Tide of Color': Forging Freedom in the Age of the New Negro,” will be delivered by Professor Davarian Baldwin of Trinity College.


Conference on Race, Class, Gender, and Ethnicity

February 25th

Time: 8:00am, Location: Law School Rotunda

Description: The Conference on Race, Class Gender and Ethnicity is a student organization run through the School of Law that hosts an annual spring event. This year’s event is titled “Waking up from the American Dream: The Sober Reality of Class in the United States”. We welcome you to join us in our critical analysis and discussion of the role of class in the United States.


Interactive Theatre Carolina presents Image Theatre

February 25th

Time: 5:30pm, Location: SASB North, Upendo Lounge

Description: Interactive Theatre Carolina, in partnership with the Black Student Movement, will be offering an Image Theatre workshop to examine media representations of race and how those representations inform race relations in the United States. In Image Theatre, workshop participants use their bodies to create still images (frozen pictures or moments of time) to explore a given theme or topic. The workshop
participants are active participants who create the images that will then serve as a jumping off point
for group discussion and analysis. These workshops are fun and interactive, where everyone gets out
of their seats and on their feet – using theatrical games and exercises as a way to examine existing
narratives about race and create new ones. ITC strives to create a safe space where all feel able to hold
difficult dialogues in an environment of respect and civility.