Black History Month 2022

01/27/2022 

SUNY Cortland will host two dozen events throughout Black History Month.

These events include presentations, panel discussions, podcasts and more.

Attendees are asked to follow SUNY Cortland’s COVID-19 safety policies, including the wearing of face coverings in all indoor spaces. Please refer to the university calendar for updates throughout February.

Events include:

• Wednesday, Feb. 2, 12:30 p.m.: “Creating and using Cortland’s Inclusive Language Guide,” presented by Associate Professor Kristine Newhall, Old Main Colloquium.
• Thursday, Feb. 3, noon: “Black elders in New York prisons: The other death penalty,” presented by Lecturer Ute Ritz-Deutch, virtual via Webex.
• Monday, Feb. 7, 5 p.m.: “Design ways to increase BIPOC students’ voting rates,” presented by Director of the Institute for Civic Engagement John Suarez, Moffett Center Forum.
• Monday, Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m.: “Let’s talk about it: What is the NAACP?” presented by President of SUNY Cortland NAACP Gia Greenidge, Corey Union Room 207/208.
• Tuesday, Feb. 8, 5 p.m.: “Black history through poetry slam,” presented by the SGA Diversity Board: Tatum Pittman, Kaylynn Santiago, Jasmine Cuevas, Brianna Reyes and Sophia Patrone-Lozoff, Moffett Center Forum.
• Wednesday, Feb. 9, 12:30 p.m.: “Black music matters,” presented by Professor Edward Moore, Dowd Fine Arts Center, Room 110.
• Wednesday, Feb. 9, 6 p.m.: “A living museum: Historical figures in Black history,” presented by SUNY Cortland NAACP, Corey Union Function Room.
• Thursday, Feb. 10, noon: “Black history: Examining race and health perspectives,” presented by Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Lorraine Lopez-Janove, Old Main Colloquium.
• Thursday, Feb. 10, 4:30 p.m.: “My Black students think I’m white: Colorblindness and the negotiation of racial ideology in urban schools,” presented by diversity fellow Marcus Bell, Moffett Center Forum.
• Saturday, Feb. 12, 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.: “SUNY Cortland NAACP Founder Day brunch and Black excellence movies,” presented by SUNY Cortland NAACP, Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Monday, Feb. 14, 7 p.m.: “Mitigating intellectual hegemony,” presented by Associate Professor Michael Tillotson, Moffett Center Forum.
• Tuesday, Feb. 15, 4:30 p.m.: “Rodney Reed: An innocent Black man on death row,” presented by Associate Professor Susan Rayl, Moffett Center Forum.
• Wednesday, Feb. 16, 12:30 p.m.: “Kwame Gyekye and the communitarian ethics of COVID denial,” presented by Lecturer Nancy Kane, Old Main Colloquium.
• Wednesday, Feb. 16, 4:30 p.m.: “Black hair affairs,” presented by Health Educator Lauren Scagnelli, podcast to be released on Soundcloud.
• Thursday, Feb. 17, noon: “Afro-Futurism: From funk to Black Panther taking back the future,” presented by Director of the Educational Opportunity Program Lewis Rosengarten, Old Main Colloquium.
• Monday, Feb. 21, 5:30 to 7 p.m.: “Cortland has a Dream (Building a leaderful movement: An organizing workshop,” presented by Director of Multicultural Life and Diversity AnnaMaria Cirrincione, NYPIRG Project Coordinator Marissa Pappas, Associate Professor Evan Faulkenbury, Director of the Institute for Civic Engagement John Suarez and Black Student Union's C’Ality Hackett, Corey Union Function Room.
• Tuesday, Feb. 22, 4:30 p.m.: “Early racialized philosophies of people of African descent” and “Predictive policing: History and methods,” presented by students Alfred Robertson and Daniel Reischer, Moffett Center Forum.
• Wednesday, Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m.: “Recruiting and retaining BIPOC employees,” presented by Employer Relations and Recruiting Coordinator Michelina Gibbons, Associate Director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action Officer Melanie Woodward, Assistant Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Cyrenius Weagba Fitzjohn ’19 and Assistant Professor Christopher Ortega ’06, Old Main Colloquium.
• Wednesday, Feb. 23, 4:30 p.m.: “Paving the way to greater diversity, equity and inclusion with the campus: Meeting the needs of first generation college students,” presented by Senior Counselor Roueida Ghadban, online via Webex.
• Wednesday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.: “Do we really matter?: Critical race theory, racial disparity and campus climate,” a faculty panel presented by the Black Student Union, Sperry Center Lecture Hall.
• Thursday, Feb. 24, noon: "Challenge accepted: Overcoming bias, prejudice and racism one day at a time," Sandwich Seminar, online via Webex.
• Thursday, Feb. 24 through Saturday, Feb. 26 and Sunday, Feb. 27: "Possessing Harriet," a Kyle Bass play, Dowd Fine Arts Center Theatre. Ticket and showtime information is available online.
• Thursday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m.: “Afro-Essence: Celebrating soul, talents, poetry, music, the arts and fashion,” presented by Black Student Union and Know Your Roots-Africana Studies Association, Corey Union Function Room.
• Friday, Feb. 25, 9 p.m.: “Black and bougie (boujee): 2022 Mardi Gras edition,” presented by Black Student Union, Corey Union Exhibition Lounge.
• Saturday, Feb. 26, noon: “Kings and Queens Conference: Wounded souls: Post-traumatic slave syndrome, the Black family and healing,” presented by Black Student Union, Corey Union Function Room.
• Monday, Feb. 28, 4:30 to 6 p.m.: “How to support Black students and families, PK-12 speak out,” presented by national Black Lives Matter at School steering committee member Denisha Jones and Syracuse City School District educators Spencer Hill and Sophia Burden, online via Zoom.

Members of the campus community are also encouraged to participate in the 21-day Anti-Racism challenge at any time. The challenge is an opportunity for individuals to learn, grow and foster awareness, compassion and understanding.

Co-sponsorships and funding for Black History Month events were provided by the President’s Office, the Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office, the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, the School of Professional Studies, the Africana Studies Department, the Political Science Department, the Performing Arts Department, the Sociology/Anthropology Department, the Multicultural Life and Diversity Office, the President’s Council on Inclusive Excellence, the Campus Artist and Lecture Series, the Educational Opportunity Program, Student Government Association, the Know Your Roots-Africana Studies Association, SUNY Cortland NAACP, the Black Student Union and the Pan African Student Association. 

For more information or questions, please contact Distinguished Teaching Professor Seth Asumah, chair of the Africana Studies Department, at 607-753-2064.