UGA will mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 in February as the campus celebrates Black History Month.
A series of lectures, performances, movies and discussions will celebrate diversity on campus, with many events focused on the benchmark legislation that has formed the basis for fundamental civil rights in America.
“Across our campus community, the Division of Student Affairs, schools and colleges, student organizations and departments will present thought provoking, celebratory and innovative programming,” said Zoe M. Johnson, director of multicultural services and programs. “We look forward to the role the great variety of programs will play in not only reflecting on the past, but also being a catalyst that challenges us to lead the way in issues of social justice during February and beyond.”
Events associated with the month-long observance include:
• Feb. 3 – Week of Soul: “Day at the Museum.” 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Concourse, Tate Student Center. The University Union’s Committee for Black Cultural Programming will present music and caricature artists.
• Feb. 3 – Film: Justice is a Black Woman: The Life and Work of Constance Baker Motley. 7 p.m., Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries auditorium. This award-winning documentary recounts the story of the lawyer who wrote briefs in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case and played a pivotal role in the desegregation of UGA.
• Feb. 4 – Week of Soul: Team Vicious Step Show, 8 p.m., Grand Hall, Tate Student Center. An internationally recognized dance troupe will perform. Tickets are $5; admission is free for UGA students.
• Feb. 5 – Apero Africana Lecture: “Food Deserts and Food Justice.” 12:15 p.m., 481 Tate Student Center. Christina Hylton of the Athens Land Trust will speak.
• Feb. 5 – “An Evening with Yul Kwon.” 5 p.m., Memorial Hall ballroom. The winner of the 13th season of the TV series Survivor (Cook Islands) talks about shattering racial stereotypes and changing perceptions of Asian Americans.
• Feb. 6 – Week of Soul: Dinner and a Movie: The Butler. 8 p.m., Grand Hall, Tate Student Center. A dinner and a screening of the 2013 film starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey is $5; admission is free for UGA students.
• Feb. 7 – Week of Soul: Group Art. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tate Student Center Plaza. Students, faculty and staff can add their own images, quotes and thoughts about diversity to a giant mural.
• Feb. 7 – Lecture: Charles W. Mills. 3:30 p.m., 115 Peabody Hall. A professor at Northwestern University, Mills works in the general area of social and political philosophy, particularly in oppositional political theory as centered on class, gender and race.
• Feb. 13 – “Alvin Ailey: A Legacy of African-American Dance.” 6 p.m., Miller Learning Center. The Pamoja Dance Company, a student performance group, will present interpretive dance celebrating the life of the choreographer, who died in 1989.
• Feb. 16 – Life: The Griot. 10 p.m., WUGA-TV. Directed by Matt DeGennaro and produced by Grady Thrasher and Kathy Prescott, the film documents the story of local social worker, mentor, poet, author and activist Lemuel LaRoche.
• Feb. 17- Feb. 21 – NAACP Founders Week.
• Feb. 17 – “State of the Black Community.” 4 p.m., Chapel.
• Feb. 19 – Apero Africana Lecture: “Micro-Business and Entrepreneurship Training in Burkina Faso.” 12:15 p.m., 481 Tate Student Center. Emily Blalock, a lecturer in textiles, merchandising and exteriors, will speak.
• Feb. 20 – Black History Month Dinner. 6 p.m., Georgia Museum of Art. Tickets are $55, $20 for UGA students with discount for museum members. For more information or to RSVP, call 706-542-0830.
• Feb. 20 – Flyin’ West. 8 p.m., Cellar Theatre, Fine Arts Building. Set in a rural Kansas town in 1898, this Pearl Cleage play portrays the extreme lengths to which a group of women must go to sustain their family on the American frontier. Performances are Feb. 20-22, Feb. 25-March 1 at 8 p.m., and March 2 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $16, $12 for students.
• Feb. 22 – An Encounter with Lillian Smith. 5 p.m., Russell Special Collections Building auditorium. Atlanta actress Brenda Bynum will perform her work, based on the writings of anti-segregationist Lillian Smith, author of Strange Fruit.
• Feb. 23 – “A Celebration of Black History through the Performing Arts.” 7 p.m., Adinkra Hall, Memorial Hall. The Black Theatrical Ensemble and Pamoja Dance Company present an evening of drama and dance celebrating great moments in African-American history.
• Feb. 25 – “Glory Bound: A Voyage into the Underground Railroad.” 6 p.m., Reed Hall. This guided interactive re-creation of the Underground Railroad allows student participants to experience the voyage of fleeing slavery in search of freedom.
• Feb. 26 – “Ain’t I a Woman: My Journey to Womanhood.” 7 p.m., Tate Student Center Theatre. Actress Laverne Cox of the television series Orange is the New Black will talk about how the intersections of race, class and gender uniquely affect the lives of transgender women of color. The event is $5; admission is free for UGA students.
• Feb. 28 – Black History Month Capstone Event: Community Service, 1-4 p.m., Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. Black History Month concludes with community service where volunteers will help to salvage and organize food products onto shelves. For more information, see http://msp.uga.edu.
