10 Black History Month Events to Check Out

Above: Author Douglas J. Flowe will talk about his book, Uncontrollable Blackness: African American Men and Criminality in Jim Crow New York, for the Department of History’s inaugural Black History Month Lecture.

Black History Month, celebrated during the month of February, is a time to reflect on the struggles, accomplishments and future of African Americans. And it’s a time for all Americans to reflect on the past so we can better understand the context of today and improve upon what’s to come tomorrow.

In honor of Black History Month, several College of Charleston departments, clubs, organizations and offices are sponsoring events ranging from a look at one alumna’s work with the National Museum of African American History and Culture to the Department of History’s inaugural Black History Month Lecture to the 2021 Conseula Francis Emerging Scholar Lecture on Black satire.

Events include:

1. Black History Month Movie Series

Feb. 4, Feb. 18 and Feb. 25, 2021, at 8 p.m. in rooms 101 and 102 of the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center. Students are invited to join the Cougar Activities Board and CofC’s Black Student Union in celebrating Black History Month with a movie series showcasing African American talent in film. A raffle will take place for a portable charger, reusable scan notebook and a Roku TV. Snacks will be provided. Attendance will be limited and masks and social distancing are required. Feb. 4 will feature the film Something the Lord Made, Feb. 18 will feature Just Mercy and Feb. 25 will feature Greenbook. Register and learn more through Cougar Connect.

2. Movie Screening of The Workers Cup

Feb. 10, 2021, via Zoom. Hosted by the Office of Multicultural Student Programs and Services, students are invited to attend a screening of The Workers Cup, a feature-length documentary that examines the labor camps of Qatar where African and Asian migrant workers are building the facilities of the 2022 World Cup. Learn more and register through Cougar Connect.

3. Working at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Feb. 10, 2021, at 7 p.m. Join alumna Jasmine Utsey ’08, business liaison and program specialist at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), for a webinar where she will discuss what it’s like working at the NMAAHC, share images of her favorite exhibitions and provide advice for those who wish to visit the museum. The webinar, which is sponsored by the College of Charleston Alumni Association, will be hosted by Neysa Burkes Williams ’95, president of the Black Alumni Council and a member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. Register for this online event here.

4. “Let’s Talk About Sex Baby”

Feb. 11, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Students are invited to join the CofC Black Student Union for the BSU Black Love/Sex Session talk titled “Let’s Talk About Sex Baby.” Led by Regina Duggins, founder of the nonprofit Charleston Black Pride, this talk will focus on the history and efforts to improve inclusivity of LGBTQ people of color as well as provide information on sex education and safe sex practices. The talk can be viewed via this Zoom link. Check Cougar Connect and @cofcbsu on Instagram for more information.

5. My Vanishing Country: A Memoir by Bakari Sellers

Feb. 11, 2021, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture hosts CNN analyst, attorney and politician Bakari Sellers for a discussion with Ashley Walters, assistant professor of Jewish studies, about his recently published memoir My Vanishing Country, which traces his father’s rise to become a civil rights hero, as well as his own childhood growing up in Denmark, South Carolina. In his book, Sellers also addresses the plight of the South’s dwindling rural, black working-class, many of whom can trace their ancestry back seven generations. Sellers was the youngest elected member of the South Carolina Legislature and the youngest African American elected official in the nation. Register to view this event via Zoom.

6. Black History Month Lecture

Feb. 16, 2021, at 5 p.m. Join the College of Charleston’s Department of History for its inaugural Black History Month Lecture, “Uncontrollable Blackness: African American Men and Criminality in Jim Crow New York,” featuring Douglas Flowe, assistant professor of history at Washington University in St. Louis. Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, this lecture and Q&A will be held online. The lecture is based on Flowe’s recent book of the same name which highlights the lives of early 20TH-century African American men in northern urban centers like New York, who faced economic isolation, segregation, a biased criminal justice system and overt racial attacks by police and citizens. This event is organized and moderated by CofC history professors Elisa J. Jones and Shannon Eaves. In order to attend, please register by 5 p.m. on Feb. 15. Registration may be completed on eventbrite.

7. Black Satire in the 21st Century

Feb. 24, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. via Zoom. The African American Studies Program presents the 2021 Conseula Francis Emerging Scholar Lecture: a conversation with Danielle Fuentes Morgan, assistant professor of English at Santa Clara University. Morgan, who specializes in African American literature in the 20th and 21st centuries, will discuss her book, Laughing to Keep from Crying: African American Satire in the Twenty-First Century. Attendees must register via Zoom.

8. We Celebrate Year Round

Feb. 26, 2021, at 12 p.m. Join the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture for its newest virtual programming: We Celebrate Year Round Virtual Black History Program. We Celebrate Year Round is an interactive, thought-provoking and inspiring virtual Black history program created to spark meaningful conversation and engage students grades K-12, while reiterating the importance of Black influence on the world. Produced by Eye of Elohim Videography, We Celebrate Year Round carefully configures local artisans, creatives, historians and storytellers alike to seamlessly express the importance of not only our local history, but how we continuously enhance the world as we know it. With special guest Minerva King, Amethyst Ganaway, Geechee Experience, the CofC Gospel Choir, Chef Wibi and Avery staff, viewers will be able to not only celebrate during the anniversary, but obtain knowledge to continue the conversations year round.

We Celebrate Year Round will be available to view on all Avery streaming platforms, including:

● The Avery Research Center YouTube channel

● Instagram @averyresearchcenter

● Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Facebook page

9. 5th Annual BSU Fashion Show

Feb. 28, 2021, at 6 p.m. via Zoom. The Black Student Union’s 5th annual Fashion Show will celebration Black fashion and culture, featuring student-models of all genders, sizes and color. The fashion show can be viewed via this Zoom link. Check Cougar Connect and @cofcbsu on Instagram for more information.

10. “Raising the Volume” Episode VI

Available on YouTube. Watch arts management professor Karen Chandler in a conversation with Grammy Award-winning musician Charlton Singleton about the Charleston Jazz Initiative, a jazz history and research project she co-founded that documents the careers of South Carolina musicians who helped shape jazz history in America and Europe, and the Jenkins Orphanage Band, an orphanage for Black children founded in the late 1800s. “Raising the Volume” is a conversation series on music, race, art, activism and more curated by Charleston Gaillard Center Artists-in-Residence Marcus Amaker and Charlton Singleton. Each conversation is led by either Amaker or Singleton having in-depth conversations with local Black leaders, educators, business owners and artists.