SU’s annual Black History Month celebration begins Feb. 1

Syracuse University’s annual Black History Month celebration, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs within the Division of Student Affairs, begins on campus Wednesday, Feb. 1, in the atrium of the Schine Student Center from noon-2 p.m. This kick-off event will feature a soul food lunch provided by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Schine Student Center Dining.

The month-long schedule of Black History Month events at SU includes performances, lectures and provocative dialogues. Highlights of the celebratory month include: “The Meeting,” a theatrical play of an imagined conversation between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., on Feb. 3 at 6:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel; a night with Fox Sports and ESPN NBA Insider Stephen A. Smith on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Goldstein Auditorium; and the seventh annual Cora A. Thomas Gospel Extravaganza featuring Kurt Carr Singers on Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. at Bethany Baptist Church. Complimentary meal tickets for the lunch at the kick-off event on Feb. 1 will be available to students, faculty and staff who sign up to attend either “The Meeting” or Smith’s lecture.

“Through these events, we celebrate the rich and diverse backgrounds of black people all over the world and their struggle for freedom and equality,” says James K. Duah-Agyeman, director of SU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs. “I encourage the SU community to attend as many of these events as possible, especially the commemorative lecture with Stephen A. Smith. I hope the panel inspires us to create positive change in our personal and professional lives, and excellence in all we do.”

Other featured events for Black History Month include:

• a conversation with Steve Stoute, author of “The Tanning of America” (Gotham, 2011) on Feb. 1 from 6-9 p.m. in the Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3;
• “A Night with Beverly Jenkins,” the nation’s premier author of African American historical romance fiction on Feb. 15, from 7-9 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium;
• Modern Dance Workshop with Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell on Feb. 18, from 1-5 p.m. in the Ernie Davis Hall Dance Studio;
• and Crunk Feminist Collective Panel on Feb. 28, from 6:30-9 p.m. in Watson Theater, in the Robert Menschel Media Center.

For more information on Syracuse University’s Black History Month celebration, including a complete list of events and programs, visit the Black History Month Calendar or contact Cedric Bolton, coordinator of student engagement at 443-9676.

Sponsors of this year’s Black History Month programming include: the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Division of Student Affairs, Community Folk Art Center, African America Studies Department, National Association of Black Journalists, Syracuse Stage, National Panhellenic Council, Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Student African Society, Redemption, Black Artist League, Department of Recreation Services and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.