Several groups and organizations at the University of Rochester will hold events in February in celebration of Black History Month.
On Saturday, February 4, the Susan B. Anthony Center will host its annual Susan B. Anthony Legacy Awards Celebration and presentation of the Frederick Douglass Medal, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Memorial Art Gallery. Tickets are required.
On Sunday, February 5, the Simon Business Christian Fellowship and Simon National Black MBA Association will present a Gospel Brunch, from 1 to 3 p.m., in the Eisenberg Rotunda, Schlegel Hall at the Simon Business School. Guest speaker is Janeen Uzzell, head of women in technology at GE Global Research. Dance performance by Jihan Cooke ’18 and musical guest, Jason Wright and the Master’s Touch. Tickets required.
The We’re Better Than That campaign, in partnership with the Student Programming Board, is sponsoring a “Color Cannot Divide Us” week of events. The week features a “Breaking Racial Boundaries Through Music” panel and performance by Eastman School of Music musicians in the Interfaith Chapel on February 6 at 7 p.m., and an “Implicit Bias Training Dinner” in Schlegel Hall on February 8 at 5 p.m. Both events are free; the dinner requires an RSVP to mcrenca@u.rochester.edu. Visit the Facebook event to learn more.
The Douglass Leadership House will present Black Film Series—entertaining educational films highlighting Black experiences, at 7 p.m. on Sundays, February 5, 12, and 26.
The Frederick Douglass Institute of African and African-American Studies will host several events this month, including the Africa Video Series on Wednesday, February 15 and the FDI Symposium on Friday, February 10, at Rush Rhees Library. The symposium will feature speakers Robert Levine, of the University of Maryland, and Manisha Sinha, of the University of Connecticut, discussing “Black Lives Matter: Critical Genealogies and the Contemporary Moment.” Email fdi@rochester.edu for information.
W. Kamau Bell, sociopolitical comedian and host of the Emmy-nominated CNN show United Shades of America, will be at Douglass Commons on the River Campus at 7:30 p.m., Friday, February 10, for the show “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour.” The event is presented by the Student Programming Board. Tickets are required.
Meleko Mokgosi’s Pax Kaffraria will open at the Memorial Art Gallery on Sunday, February 19. Mokgosi makes figurative paintings that fit together to form “chapters” in large installations that suggest stories or narratives. Another “chapter” of Mokogosi’s installation will be simultaneously exhibited at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center, from February 3 through March 19. The museum will host a special “Meet the Artist” event, a public conversation between Meleko Mokgosi and Jonathan Binstock at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 23. Read more about the exhibit online.
The Simon National Black MBA Association, Simon United, and the Simon Consortium will host a “Taste of Africa,” on Monday, February 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., in Gleason Hall 318/418 in the Simon Graduate School of Business.
The Humanities Project, a program of the Humanities Center, will present a talk with artist Meleko Mokgosi at 3 p.m., Friday, February 24, at the Humanities Center Conference Room D, in Rush Rhees Library. The Humanities Center will also present a screening of the film Disgrace (2008), starring John Malkovich and Jessica Haines, which tells the story of a South African university professor in the post-apartheid era.
The symposium, “Imagining Histories, Performing Identities: Post-colonial African Art in Context,” will be held from 1 to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, February 25 at the Memorial Art Gallery. The event is supported by the Humanities Project, the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies, and the Department of Art and Art History.
The Memorial Art Gallery will host its annual Black History Month Family Day, from 12 to 5 p.m., Sunday, February 26. The event is for all ages and features hands-on art activities, music, storytelling, and museum tours. Suggested family donation is $5.
