Black History Month Takes Shape at College

02/03/2014 

SUNY Cortland will celebrate Black History Month (BHM) throughout February with events around campus including lectures, workshops, readings and information sessions.

“The national annual celebration of achievements of Black Americans has become globalized by not just festivities but also taking stock of projects and aspirations of Black America, the African Diaspora and global Africa,” said series organizer Seth Asumah, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science and chair of the Africana Studies Department.

“We have made a lot of progress in the United States, but there are still more to be done to bring those who are marginalized and disenfranchised to participate in the American dream and the ideals of the founding fathers — life, liberty, justice, pursuit of happiness and freedom for all.”

BHM campus events will be posted online in the College’s home page calendar and on the Africana Studies Department and the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office websites. Events are open to the public and free unless otherwise noted.

Events include:

• Wednesday, Feb. 5: “What is EOP (Educational Opportunity Program) and How Do Students Qualify?” a talk presented by Lewis Rosengarten, the College’s director of EOP; Claudia Clark, the director of EOP at SUNY Broome; William Horning, the director of EOP at Cornell University; and Elyzabeth Wengert the director of EOP at SUNY Oswego, takes place at 12:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

• Wednesday, Feb. 5: Award-winning author LeAlan Jones, who as a teenager helped bring to light the harsh realities of Chicago’s housing projects with a radio documentary, offers a talk titled “What Will The Collective Voice of a Generation Have To Say?” at 7 p.m. in the Corey Union Function Room. Jones’ book Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago is one of the academic year’s two common-reads for the College’s Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC) series.

• Thursday, Feb. 6: John Aerni-Flessner, a SUNY Cortland assistant professor of history and Africana studies, presents “Mandela’s Legacy in the 21st Century: Historical Mythology or Useful Example?” at noon in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

• Wednesday, Feb. 12: “Speak Up/Speak Out: Inclusive Language — Saving Lives and Building Communities,” a talk led by Noelle Chaddock Paley, takes place at 7 p.m. in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge. Paley, pictured above, directs SUNY Cortland’s Multicultural Life and Diversity Office (MLDO).

• Thursday, Feb. 13: Tamara Taylor, the assistant director of MLDO, hosts “Pioneering a Future: More Than a Teen Mom, Slang-Speaking, Black Girl” at noon in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

• Wednesday, Feb. 19: Professor of Philosophy Kathryn Russell leads a workshop titled “Race, Class, Gender and Climate Change” at 12:30 p.m. in the Old Main Colloquium.

• Thursday, Feb. 20: Jermaine Soto, a doctoral student in Syracuse University’s School of Education, presents “Engaging Race within the Dialogic Space: Emotional Labor (not) Lost” at noon in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.

• Monday, Feb. 24: A poetry slam hosted by SUNY Cortland students Jason Carriero and Sierra Degale-Rodgers takes place at 7 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 205.

• Wednesday, Feb. 26: Rachelann Copland, a SUNY Cortland graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in English, leads a talk titled “The Epistolary Journal in the Postcolonial Light: How Mariama Ba and Ernest Gaines Obscure the Limits of the Public and Private Spheres of Experience and Genre” at 12:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

• Thursday, Feb. 27: Michael Goldman, a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in recreation, offers “The Peace Corps and Me: One Man’s Adventure in Senegal” at noon in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

• Friday, Feb. 28: The Renegade’s Experience,” hosted by music producer Ryan Leslie, takes place at 4 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 205. Leslie, of Washington, D.C., saw his work “Transition” nominated as the best contemporary R&B album at the 2011 Grammy Awards.

BHM event sponsors include the President’s Office, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Office, Dean of Arts and Sciences Office, the Africana Studies and Political Science departments, Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, EOP, Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, CICC and Black Student Union.

For more information, contact Asumah at 607-753-2064.