02/11/2025
SUNY Cortland will round out Black History Month (BHM) through February with a barbershop talk complete with free haircuts, an evening of dance through Black cultural heritage, a discussion of the history of the Harlem Globetrotters, a joint evening of performances by the Gospel Choir, Blues Ensemble and the Africana Dance Group, plus lectures, workshops and panel presentations galore.
BHM campus events will be posted online on the Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office webpage. Events are open to the public and free unless otherwise noted.
Still to come are:
- Danica Savonick, SUNY Cortland assistant professor of English, will lecture on the research from her new book, Open Admissions: The Poetic and Pedagogy of Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich in the Era of Free College during a sandwich seminar on Wednesday, Feb. 12. She will speak from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Old Main Colloquium.
- Mindy Gardner, a representative from the Cortland YWCA, will present an interactive workshop on “Learning, Listening, and Walking Together: An Honest Journey Toward Allyship” Thursday, Feb. 13. The sandwich seminar explores the complexities of allyship through the lens of a white woman’s personal journey of learning, growth and accountability will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Old Main Colloquium.
- A student panel facilitated by Cody Harrington, SUNY Cortland assistant professor in the Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, will speak on “Empowerment through Education: Elevating Black Student Voices” on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The panel, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Corey Union Function Room, will include students from the Black Student Union, NAACP, Men of Value and Excellence and the Cortland Urban Recruitment for Education (C.U.R.E) program. The groups collaborated with faculty of the Anti-Racism Task Force Education Subcommittee to develop this event focusing on if and how education empowers the voices of Black students.
- A panel of SUNY Cortland Master of Arts candidates will discuss “Black Women Writers: Then and Now” during an online meeting via Zoom at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The event will include research presentations by Jordanne Greenidge, “Healing Through Language: An Exploration of Mental Health in the Work of Ntozake Shange”; Lexi Hartley, “Global Internationalism: Toni Cade Bambara and Audre Lorde’s Travels to the USSR and Vietnam”; Stella Hu, “Black Female Writers as an Antidote to the Dilemma of Contemporary White American Feminism”; and Emma Stack, “Motherhood is Burning: How Fires in Sula Challenge the Expectations of Femininity.” For information, contact Danica Savonick.
- Lewis Rosengarten, director of the SUNY Cortland Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), will give an overview of “The History of the Harlem Globetrotters” on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The sandwich seminar will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Dowd Fine Arts Center, Room 242. Founded in 1926 in Chicago by a 24-year-old named Abe Saperstein, the original team was called the "Savoy Big Five," named after Chicago’s famous Savoy Ballroom, where they played many of their early games. This seminar explores the how and why of this beginning, the music associated with the team and the rise to fame and global equity.
- Tokie Laotan-Brown, an expert in architecture, heritage management and sustainability, will address “Heritage, Sustainability, and Innovation: The Future of Cultural Preservation in Africa” during a sandwich seminar from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, in Old Main Colloquium. She will share insights from her work with the United Nationals Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), discuss the challenges of decolonizing heritage, and highlight the potential of heritage trails and community-led initiatives to promote economic and cultural revitalization.
- Michael Tillotson, a SUNY Cortland professor of Africana studies, will lead a workshop with members of the campus Multicultural Male Initiative and the Black Student Union on “Combating Agency Reduction Formation: Building Strength in Advocacy” on Thursday, Feb. 20. His talk will run from 4 to 6 p.m. in Corey Union Function Room. The theoretical construction “Agency Reduction Formation” is defined as “any system of thought that distracts, neutralizes or reduces the need and desire for assertive collective agency by African Americans.” Food and beverages will be provided, and participants are encouraged to continue the conversation afterward as part of the MMI Barbershop Talk Series. Contact Jacob Wright for more information.
- A “Multicultural Male Initiative Barbershop Talk with Dr. Tillotson and Black Student Union” will take place on Thursday, Feb. 20. The event, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Corey Union Function Room, will feature Michael Tillotson, a SUNY Cortland professor of Africana studies, and members of the Black Student Union. Haircuts start at 6 p.m. and will be given on a first come first serve basis, with preference given to students who are present for the workshop from 4 to 6 p.m. Contact Jacob Wright for more information.
- On Friday, Feb. 21, the Gospel Choir will hold its annual concert in collaboration with The Blues Ensemble as well as the Africana dance group. The event will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. in Corey Union Function Room. For information, contact Bernice Cooper, administrative assistant with Campus Technology Services.
- Ọlaọcha Nwadiuto Nwabara, assistant professor of Western African literature and culture at SUNY Geneseo’s Department of English, will share indigenous African ontologies of becoming and of one’s purpose read through contemporary Igbo literature, centering the journeys of non-heterosexual women, on Monday, Feb. 24. Her talk, titled will speak on “Becoming, Writing Home: Embodying Spirit as Gendered and Sexual Identity Representation in Igbo Literature,” will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.
- Since the publication of Feminism. Now (Davis, Dent, Meiners, and Ritchie, 2022) by notable penal abolitionists, abolition feminism is starting to gain traction in feminist and social justice discourses, according to Mecke Nagel, SUNY Cortland philosophy professor. She will discuss the progress during a sandwich seminar in a talk titled “Abolition Feminism and Its Others” from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, in Old Main Colloquium.
- Assumptions and opinions can cause harm. SUNY Cortland Health Educator Lauren Scagnelli will discuss “Assumptions and Opinions” giving examples that include various aspects of diversity on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The talk, from 1 to 3 p.m. in Neubig Hall lobby, is sponsored by the Conley Wellness Wednesday series, Health Promotions, Multicultural Life and Diversity Office and wellness peer educators.
- Jihon Kim, chief of policy with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO and a visiting scholar in the Harvard Asia Center, will discuss the fierce conflicts at UNESCO since 2015 over interpretations of Japan’s 20th-century colonial rule and wartime actions among Japan, Korea and China. The presentation, titled “Contested Heritage: Japan, Korea, China and the Struggle for Historical Narratives at UNESCO,” will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, in Corey Union Fireplace Lounge.
- A panel of Black students led by Kelly Tait will share their unique recent study abroad experiences during “Black Abroad” on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Panelists will reflect on how studying abroad has shaped their identities, discuss the challenges they faced, and list the triumphs they achieved while navigating new cultural environments, during the event from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Corey Union, Room 209.
- Rob Haggar, a visiting scholar in the SUNY Cortland Economics Department, will discuss “Prisons, Anarchism and Black Power” at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. They assert that New York, and specifically its vast constellation of jails and prisons, was a locus of the development of Black Anarchism. The discussion will focus on the life of Martin Sostre and the Attica Prison Revolt. International Programs sponsors this event.
- Dahila Wilson and ballroom dancer will present a sandwich seminar on “Portraying Racialized Bodies in Early Modernity” Thursday, Feb. 27. The event runs from noon to 1 p.m. in Old Main Colloquium. Amid the constructs of race created by English persons during the early modern period, their investment in portraying Black, Brown, and mixed-race individuals invites reflection on what made these identities particularly essential to racial constructions. This presentation will explore the representations of these racialized bodies in drama, poetry and early modern material culture.
- Dahila Wilson and ballroom dancer will later offer an educational celebration of Black excellence in arts, culture and leadership with a “Black History Exhibition” in the Corey Union Function Room from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27. Voice Office clubs will exhibit Black cultural items relating to hair, clothes, important figures, dances and more. Students, community members, faculty and staff are welcome.
- A memorial presentation honoring the late Regina Grantham, titled “Regina Grantham: A Gentle Warrior,” will take place on Friday, Feb. 28. The event runs from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Sperry Center Vittor Lecture Hall (Room 205). An emeritus faculty member who served in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences for more than 30 years, Grantham served as department chair for 18 years. She helped establish and obtain accreditation for the Graduate Program. Grantham also tirelessly advocated and provided leadership to a multitude of diversity initiatives at the university, in the community and in the field of speech-language pathology. The epitome of Black resistance, resilience and success, she endured significant challenges when attending a predominantly white institution in the 1960s. Ultimately, she was named an ASHA Fellow by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the field’s highest honor.
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Althea "Faith" Shaw-Hester '88 speaks at DeMond Day
Enjoying a Black History Month event
Multicultural dancing
The Blues Ensemble performs