February is Black History Month
Black Men (and Women) Reading
Wednesdays, February 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 6:00 - 8:00 pm,
NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, 1313 Penn Avenue N, Minneapolis. Sponsored
by UMN College of Education and Human Development, Department of Post-Secondary
Teaching and Learning
The 23rd National African American Read-In
February 1 - 29
In February 2012, you may hold an African American Read-In
event any day of the month. For participation information visit http://www.ncte.org/action/aari/packetinfo
Sponsored by the Black Caucus of National Council of Teachers
of English and the National Council of Teachers of English.
African American Read-In and Moore Black Press
Present Detroit Poet Legacy Leonard
February 1, 6:30 Р 8:00 pm, NorthPoint Health and Wellness
Center, 1313 Penn Avenue North, Minneapolis. Detroit native, writer,
performance poet and activist Chantay Legacy Leonard premiers her first book. This
exciting evening will feature a riveting poetry
performance from Leonard, from her new book titled, I Have
Come Forth by Day: A Woman's Evolution, is heartfelt collection of poems that
cope with the struggles, lessons, and triumphs of self discovery, growing into
womanhood, finding love and evolving humanity. Leonard, is one of the founding members of the literary and
performance group, Black Ink Collective and serves as the Vice President of
Strange Fruits, Inc. a national all woman non-profit arts and performance
collective. Leonard's passion for women's expression and development is an
inspiration to her book. Leonard
has commanded stages with poetic icons - The Last Poets, Amiri Baraka, and
others. She has performed at numerous colleges and universities, festivals, and
showcases. Hosted by Thornton (T.J.) Jones and Ezra
Hyland http://mooreblackpress.com/
Black Student Union Annual Black History Month
Kick-Off
February 1, 7:00 Р 9:00 pm, UMN Coffman Union Theater
Successful Parenting in the Black Community from
Birth to Adulthood
February 3, 8:30 am Р 12:00 pm, Metropolitan State
University, Auditorium, 700 East 7th Street,
St. Paul. Presenters: Harriett Copher Haynes, Ph.D.; Willie
Garrett, M.S., LP, Ed.D.; Bill Allen, Ph.D.; and Willie Winston, Ph.D.
Historically, African American parents raised
healthy and successful children. Today's "at risk
kids" are a modern phenomenon, a result of social changes in the United
States. Black parents raised successful children despite
ever present negative influences both internal and external to their
communities. Today, successful black parents are
virtually invisible in the media, but offer key strategies for helping all
families to raise resilient children. A panel of professionals will present on successful parenting from childhood to
adulthood. Topics will include the characteristics of healthy black families,
raising resilient children, identifying gifted black children, working with
interracial families, adopted and adult children. Sponsored by Minnesota Psychological Association
Givens First Fridays Series, Character of the
Collector: African American Literature Collections
February 3, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, UMN Andersen Library, Room 120
The Givens Collection of African American
Literature will commemorate Black History Month by examining the character of
the collector. What animates the passions of the collector of African American
literature? A need to document the achievements and impact of African
Americans? To celebrate African American culture? A love of black books? A
recent gift of rare African American literature, donated in honor of Penumbra
founder and UMN theater professor Lou Bellamy, will be explored to answer these
questions. Sponsored by UMN Libraries, Givens Collections of African
American Literature
Opening of Givens Exhibit, "Bibliophilia: Collecting
Black Books"
February 6 - April 20,
UMN Andersen Library
Sponsored by UMN Libraries, Givens Collections of African
American Literature
NOMMO African American Authors Series: Elizabeth
Alexander
February 8, 7:00 - 8:00 pm, UMN Humphrey School, Cowles
Auditorium
Sponsored by UMN Libraries, Givens Collections of African
American Literature
Best known for
composing and delivering President Barack Obama's inaugural poem "Praise
Song for the Day," Elizabeth Alexander is a poet, essayist, playwright,
and teacher. Alexander has published five books of poems, including American
Sublime, which was listed on the American Library Association's 2006
"Notable Books of the Year" and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
that same year. Her first young adult collection (co-authored with Marilyn
Nelson), Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color,
received the 2008 Connecticut Book Award. Her two collections of essays are The
Black Interior and Power and Possibility, and her play, Diva Studies was
produced at the Yale School of Drama. She has also composed words for musical
projects with composers Elana Ruehr and Lewis Spratlan.
Black Books Panel Discussion: "Walter Mosley
Black Writer"
February 9, 7:00
pm, Rondo Library, 461 Dale Street North, St. Paul
Panelists: Nothando Zulu, Davu Seru, Ezra Hyland and Arleta
Little
Incorporating Equity
February 15, 1:00 - 3:00 pm, UMN McNamara Alumni Center, Room
655 West (6th Floor)
Sponsored by UMN Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action
Learn how to incorporate
equity and diversity into position descriptions, job performance, and other
aspects of your everyday work.
Mu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha 1st Annual
Oratorical Contest
February 16, 7:00 - 9:00 pm, UMN Coffman Union, President's
Room
Discussion and Signing by Ezra Hyland: By Any
Means Necessary--Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented Critical Conversations on
Manning Marable's Biography of Malcolm X
February 21, 4:00 - 5:00 pm, UMN Coffman Union Bookstore
Includes writings by: by Haki Madhubuti, Maulana
Karenga, Sonia Sanchez, and more
Black Student Union Black History Month Game Show
February 21, 7:00 - 9:00 pm, location to be determined. Hosted by Atif Lanier
Black Art Jeopardy
February 23, 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Hosmer Community Library, 347 East
36th Street, Minneapolis
Sponsored by Obsidian Arts and co-sponsored by UMN Libraries,
Givens Collections of African American Literature
Sigma Science Fair
February 25, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, UMN St. Paul Student Center
Students will
compete for $1, 000 and $500 scholarships at a Science Fair hosted by the Sigma
Charitable Foundation of Zeta Nu Sigma Chapter - Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity,
Incorporated. This event is designed to provide knowledge and awareness of the
contributions of people of color to fields relating to Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Local high school juniors and seniors of
all nationalities and ethnic backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Public,
Private, Charter, and home schooled students are all eligible.
Thirty
participants will be selected for participation by a small committee including
judges and members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated based on
creativity of project and display, relevance to the theme (Black History
Month), as well as eligibility & adherence to the rules of the science
fair. Scholarship winners will receive special trophies from Crown Trophy
(http://www.crowntrophy.com/) to go along with their scholarship and sponsors
of winning students will receive awards as recognition for participation in the
success of this event.
According to
an article that was recently published *African American and Latino people make
up just 12% of the science and technology workforce. Black History Month has
been observed since 1976 as a way to recall and commemorate the achievements
and history of Americans of African descent. Its origins are found in what was
originally known as Negro History Week, established in the 1920s through the
efforts of several African American scholars. Since we live in an era where
Black and African American Students often demonstrate disinterest in fields of
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics what better way to celebrate
this occasion than by paying homage and bringing awareness to the contributions
of African Americans in STEM fields? Scientists like George Washington Carver,
Mathematicians and Physicists like Ronald E. Mickens, and Engineers like Mae C.
Jemison will all be honored with the presentation of projects that display
passion, creativity, and commitment to fields of STEM and African American
influences thereof.
This is an all
age's event open to the public meant to inform, entertain, as well as uplift
the youth of the great state of Minnesota. This is also a call to action for
local corporations businesses and educational institutions to invest in the
next generation of leaders. Sponsor a Scientist: $200 gives students an
opportunity to earn a small book scholarship while demonstrating an investment
in the success of the youth in our community. Other sponsorship opportunities
include "Carver" or "Quantum" level sponsorship; The Sigma Charitable
Foundation asks that your organization assist in reaching goals by sponsoring a
number of students who might have the opportunity to change a paradigm in this state
that claims African American and Black youth do not achieve academic or
professional success as often as the majority in fields of STEM. Your donation
is tax deductible.
Please mail
your application or contribution to:
Zeta Nu Sigma
| BHMSF
P.O. Box 65155
St. Paul, MN
55165 - 0155
Please make
your check or money order payable to: Urban Instituted of Service and Learning.
Each sponsor will be recognized on the event program and if a sponsored project
wins a scholarship that sponsor will be recognized with a plaque.
University of Minnesota Jazz Festival Concert
February 25, 7:30 Р 9:30 pm, UMN Ted Mann Concert Hall
A concert featuring the U of M Jazz Ensembles and
special guests the Hornheads:
Percival Everett is the author of nearly twenty novels, three collections of short fiction, and two volumes of poetry, including the recent collection Swimming Swimmers Swimming. Among his novels are Assumption and I Am Not Sidney Poitier, which won the Believer Book Award. Everett is also the recipient of the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction, the Academy Award from an American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, The Vallombrosa Von Rezzori Prize, the PEN/Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature, and a New American Writing Award. His stories have been included in the Pushcart Prize Anthology and Best American Short Stories. He has served as a judge for, among others, the 1997 National Book Award for fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1991. He teaches fiction writing and critical theory and is currently Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.