W&M celebrates Black History Month
From gospel choirs to quilts, the William & Mary community is celebrating Black History Month with a variety of on-campus events.
On Feb. 19, the Center for Student Diversity and the Department of Music will host the annual Tidewater Gospel Festival. The event will include performances by William & Mary’s Ebony Expressions Gospel Choir, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Black Awakening Choir, Williamsburg’s The Sensational Gospel Tones and the Greater Richmond Fellowship Choir. The Saturday evening concert will be held at 7 p.m. in the Sadler Center. It is free and open to the public. For more information, call 757-221-2300.
The next day, Feb. 20, William & Mary’s Black Student Organization will host its first Honors Award Show and Talent Showcase at 8 p.m. in the Sadler Center’s Tidewater A room. The event, which is free and open to the public, will include an awards presentation as well as performances “that are rooted in African-American culture and tradition,” according to the Facebook event.
On Feb. 22, the Multicultural Law Students Association, the Black Student Organization and the William & Mary Chapter of the NAACP will host “The Law Touched Our Hearts” at 6 p.m. in room 120 at the William & Mary Law School. During the event, Law Professors Paul Marcus, Linda Malone and Larry Palmer will discuss their personal experiences with school desegregation. In 2009, they contributed their stories as essays to a book titled “The Law Touched Our Hearts.” Following the program, a reception will be held, and attendees will have the chance to buy autographed copies of the book. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jamilah LeCruise at jdlecruise@email.wm.edu.
On Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. in room 201 of Blow Hall, Riché Richardson, director of undergraduate studies at Cornell University’s Africana Studies Center, will discuss “Quilting Black History from Frederick Douglass to Toni Morrison.” Richardson was one of the quilters featured in the documentary “The Skin Quilt Project.” During the Thursday afternoon event, she will display her quilts and discuss them. A reception will follow. Free and open to the public, the event is being presented by Africana Studies, American Studies, the Department of Art and Art History, the Arts & Sciences Lecture Committee, the Black Student Organization, the Charles Center, the Department of English and the Department of Women’s Studies.
On Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sadler Center's Tidewater B room, the NAACP will present their annual movie screening. This year, they will be showing "Prom Night in Mississippi," a documentary about a high school that holds its first integrated prom in 2008. The movie will be followed by a discussion.
