Black History Month at CMU

A whole raft of events at Carnegie Mellon University in celebration of Black History Month:

Redefined:  Black History Month Events 

(Most events sponsored in part by the Division of Student Affairs and a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.)

Ongoing throughout February:  University Libraries Black History Month Display  at Hunt Library.

February 5:  Black American Music Past & Present

7p-11pm in The Underground, Morewood Gardens. Sponsored by SPIRIT Black Awareness Committee with DJ Gemz

 

February 6:  Black History Month Featured Speaker & Black Caucus Reception.  Keynote Address by Yewande Austin.  Focus the Nation Concert featuring Ms. Austin immediately following keynote address.

Yewande Austin is the President and founder of the Change Rock Institute, a company dedicated to producing award-winning multicultural and empowerment programs across the nation. In the past she has been the owner of Lotus Records, a consultant at Independent Marketing, and the Marketing Manager at HBO. She has formal music studies at Howard University and the Carnegie Mellon University Conservatory of Music and is currently at the University of Sheffield in England where she is pursuing a joint M.A./Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology with a focus on the psychological impact of music. She is also a singer recognized for her unique talents and powerful message. For more information, visit http://www.yewande.com

4:30-6pm in the Rangos Ballroom, University Center.  RSVP Recommended to mssmith@andrew.cmu.edu or 412.268.2075.  Hosted by the Black Graduate Student Organization (BGSO), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), SPIRIT, Black Business Association (BBA), IMPACT and the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.

February 9:  Black History Month Gallery Show Opening and Reception featuring photography by Adrienne Wilson, College of Fine Arts Student.  Show will be featured from February 9-14, 2008.  Reception from 4:30-6:30pm in the University Center Art Gallery

 

February 10, 4:30 pm:  Lecture and Discussion on the History of Rap and Hip-Hop  Talk by Jeff Chang;  part of the University Lecture Series.  Jeff Chang is an award-winning writer, specializing in culture, politics, the arts, and music. Jeff was a founding editor of ColorLines magazine, and a Senior Editor/Director at Russell Simmons' 360hiphop.com.  In 1993, he co-founded and ran the influential hip-hop indie label, SoleSides, now Quannum Projects, and he has helped produce over a dozen records.  He was also an organizer of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention and has served as a board member for several organizations working for change through youth and community organizing, media justice, culture, the arts, and hip-hop activism.

Hosted by the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, Department of English, Graduate Student Assembly.  For more information, visit http://www.cantstopwontstop.com/self.cfm.

 

February 13:  Black History Month Featured Speaker:  Presentation with Q & A by Panther Bior.  Panther Bior is a Sudanese refugee featured in the 2006 documentary film “God Grew Tired of Us:  The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan”. This documentary is about the journey of young men across the hostile African terrain with the hopes of escaping death and the memories of their murdered families that plague their minds.

 12:30 pm in Rangos Hall in the University Center.  Hosted by Facilitating Opportunities for Refugee Growth and Empowerment (FORGE) and Student Affairs.  Free boxed lunch for participants.  Tickets will be available at the University Center Info Desk or by contacting mssmith@andrew.cmu.edu

February 13:  SPIRIT Fashion Show

8 pm in the Weigand Gym, Univesity Center

 

February 15:  Gospel Concert: Redefined 2.0

at 6 pm in the Rangos Ballroom in the University Center.  Hosted by Impact Movement and the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.  For more information, email Sheun Ogunsunlade at sogunsun@andrew.cmu.edu.

February 15-20:  Speak Truth to Power Exhibition in the University Center Art Gallery.

 

February 16: Workshop and Discussion on Entrepreneurship & Film featuring Tommy Oliver, who graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Digital Media and Economics and is founder and director of photography of Black Squirrel Films.  4:30 pm in Adamson Wing, Baker Hall.  Hosted by the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs;  part of the University Lecture Series. 

 

February 17:  Speak Your Mind Diversity Dinner & Discussion:  Is inequality making us sick?  (featuring clips from the documentary Unnatural Causes) with facilitator Dr. Amy Burkert,  the Assistant Dean of the Mellon College of Science and Education Initiatives, and is also the Advisor for Health Professions Program and a teaching professor in the Biology department.

5-6:30pm, Class of 1987, University Center.  Hosted by MAPS (Minority Association of Pre-Health Students) and the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.

 

February 18: DRUMline Live, Presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.  7:30 p.m. at the Byham Theater.  For more information about the performers, visit www.drumlinecasting.com or www.pgharts.org

 

February 18:  Special Movie Screening, HBO Documentary Film THE BLACKLIST Volume 2.  This is a special viewing of soon to be released second part of this documentary series which is the is the brainchild of renowned portrait photographer/filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and acclaimed NPR radio host, journalist and former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell.

8:30 pm in McConomy Auditorium.  For more information, visit http://www.hbo.com/docs/docuseries/theblacklist/index.html.

 

February 20:  CAUSE Lecture: Racial Politics in a Racial Democracy: Afro-Brazilian Civil Rights Movements, 1945-present.  Lecture by Dr. George Reid Andrews, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh.  George Reid Andrews’ publications include Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000 (2004), Blacks and Whites in São Paulo, Brazil, 1888-1988 (1991), and The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1800-1900 (1980).  He is currently writing a history of Afro-Uruguayan political and cultural movements from the mid-1800s to the present.

4:30-6:30pm in Steinberg Auditorium: Baker Hall A53;  refreshments at 4:30 pm, lecture and discussion from 5-6:30 pm.

 

February 20, 9pm-1am:  UC Late Night Event Hosted by FORGE

 

February 21: The Renaissance: A Night of Expression Through the Arts Benefiting the Jubilee Soup Kitchen.  9pm-12am in The Underground, Morewood Gardens.  Hosted by BGSO (Black Graduate Student Organization)

 

February 23:  Civil Rights Pioneers:  Showcase of Commemorative United States Postal Stamps

4:30 pm in Hunt Library, Maggie Murph Cafe. Dessert Reception to follow showcase presentation.  Hosted by Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, Office of Dean of Student Affairs & Pittsburgh Postal Services

February 24: Speak Your Mind Diversity Dinner & Discussion with Facilitator:  Dr. Edda Fields-Black on IDENTITY THEFT:  “Stereotypes.”  Dr. Edda Fields-Black is an Associate Professor the Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University.  She is also the Faculty Director of the African and African American Studies minor.  She is the author of the book Deep Roots : Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora (2008)

5-6:30pm in Danforth Lounge, University Center.  Hosted by SPICE (Speak Peace Inspire Change & Empower) Morewood Gardens Special Interest House and the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs

February 25:  Islam and the African American Community.  Lecture by Arif Jamal, faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

6:30 pm in Doherty Hall 1112.  Hosted by the Muslim Students Association and SPIRIT

 

February 27:  Common Ground: Crossing Cultures Part 4, Experiences in Africa -- featuring Rotimi Abimbola and Zenobia Bell.

11am-1pm in the McKenna Room, University Center.  Sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs

 

February 27: Black History Brain Bowl

7 pm in Breed Hall, Margaret Morrison.  Hosted by SPIRIT