The African American Cultural Center, in conjunction with a number of other UGA units, will celebrate Black History Month throughout February with a wide range of events, including lectures, films, plays and readings.
The Niagara Movement, the national theme for this year’s Black History Month celebration, was an organization of black intellectuals led by W.E.B. Du Bois that called for full political, civil and social rights for African Americans. The Niagara Movement was the forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Black History Month events at UGA began on Feb. 1.
Otis Johnson, mayor of Savannah, will recount his days as a student at UGA as well as his life’s successes during a talk on Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. in room 101 of the Student Learning Center.
Derrick Alridge, an associate professor in the College of Education, will discuss the Niagara Movement and its impact on the civil rights movement and the formation of the NAACP. Alridge will give particular attention to Du Bois’s role in the organization. Alridge, who was recently named one of 10 rising stars in academe by Black Issues in Higher Education, will speak on Feb. 8 at 12:30 p.m. in Adinkra Hall.
Catherine Packer, professor of counseling psychology, will present a lecture, “The Impact of Material Messages Given to Single, Educated African-American Women about Relationships.” Packer’s talk will take place in room 350 of the Student Learning Center on Feb. 18 at 12:20 p.m.
The UGA Alumni Association will hold its Multicultural Alumni Conference in Athens Feb. 4-5 to focus on ways of involving more UGA minority alumni in university programs and activities.
A number of dance performances and plays will be featured during Black History Month. More than 1,500 participants took part in the All-Greek Step Show Competition at the Classic Center in downtown Athens on Feb. 5. A concert version of Porgy and Bess, with orchestra, chorus and soloists, will be performed at Hodgson Hall on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. Plantanos and Collard Greens, a play fusing African-American culture with Hispanic heritage, will be performed on Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Georgia Hall of the Tate Student Center.
A number of readings are also a part of the month’s activities. Eric Jerome Dickey, one of the most popular authors of contemporary urban fiction, will read from his work on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. in Georgia Hall of the Tate Student Center. Mark Anthony Thomas, a UGA alumnus and former editor-in-chief of The Red & Black, will read from his new book The Poetic Repercussion on Feb. 24 at noon in Adinkra Hall.
