Black History Month Events
On Wednesday, February 19, at 6:30 p.m. in Hillyer 303, the Conscious Media Film Series will open with "Black Love//Black Power The Films of Fitzgerald" as part of the University's Black History Month obervances. Fitzgerald is a filmmaker, visual artist, and educator based in Denver, Colorado. His work consists of digital collage and films that explore conceptions about blackness, masculinity, identity as performance and representation. His work is specifically aimed at humanizing and de-commodifying the black body through moving images.
The Conscious Media Film Series will take place monthly in conjunction with the Spring 2019 Filmmaking Seminar “Making Conscious Media” taught by Professor Dakota Nanton, this year’s Jackie McLean Fellow in the Cinema program. See the flyer for additional topics and dates. All events are free.
Below is the Black History Month announcement that was published earlier.
February is Black History Month, a time to recognize the central role Black Americans hold in U.S. and world history, to celebrate their achievements, and to educate and promote change.
Throughout the month of February, you can find a daily Black History Month UHart Moment posted on the University’s twitter account, @UofHartford.
The February 5 Martin Luther King Keeping the Dream Alive featuring Nikki Giovanni event was part of this year’s Black History Month observances.
Here are some additional events schedule in February:
Spring 2020 Brave Space Lunch and Learn Conversations for Faculty and Staff
Intent vs. Impact
Wednesday, February 19, Noon-1 p.m. GSU 345
Facilitator: Martha Brackeen-Harris
Sometimes our words or actions have an unexpected impact on others. Although our intent was not to cause discomfort or anger, the impact on the receiver can be profound and wide reaching. Join us for an interactive conversation as we explore the meanings of the “oops” and ouches” in our everyday conversations.
To indicate you plan to attend, please email Christine Grant at cgrant@hartford.edu
Taking Up Space: A Conversation with Black Women in Leadership
Thursday, February 20, 12-1:30 p.m., Shaw Center
Zozbini Tunzi, the winner of Miss Universe 2019, says it is imperative that girls and young women be taught to “take up space,” cementing themselves as effective leaders, contributors, and innovators, even in those spaces that have historically excluded them and this works doubly within the intersections of race and gender for black women.
Come to hear
Llonia Rojan Jackson ’94, Director, Student Engagement and Inclusion at UHart;
Professor Rochelle Young, Clinical Instructor of Management in the Barney School of Business; Allison Quaye, Graduate Assistant, Student Engagement and Inclusion at UHart; and
Patricia Camp, Connecticut attorney and educator.
They will discuss their experiences, success, and concerns on what it has meant to take up space in their respective positions. The panel moderator is Markeysha Davis, PhD, assistant professor of Literature and Africana Studies in Hillyer College and director of the Africana Studies Program.
Brothers and Sisters United (BSU) presents The Playlist, the annual Fashion Show to benefit the Book Fund.
Saturday, February 22, 6-9:30 p.m., Lincoln Theater
The Book Fund was established by Brothers and Sisters United (BSU) in 1993 to help defray the rising cost of college textbooks. Proceeds from the annual Fashion Show help defray the rising cost of textbooks.
Tickets are $15. Order tickets here.
Humanities Center Transversing Race, Gender and Class
“Unmaking Prescriptive Identities: The Blurred Lines of Race, Sex and Gender in Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer,”
Tuesday, February 25, 5 – 7:20 p.m., Auerbach 426
Markeysha Davis, PhD Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and Literature presents a lecture exploring how Monáe’s 2018 album works to unmask social injustices such as anti-black racism, misogynoir, homophobia, and objectification. Davis will examine how Monáe attempts to challenge “prescriptive identities” much like black and queer women theorists of the 1970s and 1980s who challenged the scope of what black empowerment and liberation could be. Davis earned her PhD in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She specializes in African-American history, poetry and music, gender and sexuality studies and black feminist thought.
Southern Migration and the Transformation of Black Connecticut, 1915-1970.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Shaw Center
Stacey K. Close, PhD. Associate Provost/ Vice President for Equity and Diversity at Eastern Connecticut State University will discuss the impact of the migration of African Americans from the South on religious institutions, politics, economics, and social engagement.