UCSB Marks Black History Month with Academic, Cultural Events

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By UCSB

The monthlong celebration kicks off Friday with an evening performance of music and poetry

When historian, author and journalist Carter G. Woodson declared the second week of February as a time to recognize and honor the contributions and legacies of African-Americans in the United States, he may not have anticipated that 84 years later the entire month would be devoted to such remembrance.

Woodson, who also founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, chose that particular week because it coincided with the birthdays of two Americans who influenced the lives and social conditions of blacks — President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

UCSB will celebrate Black History Month with a variety of academic and cultural events, including film screenings, musical performances, lectures, discussions and an exhibition on blacks and the black diaspora.

In addition, the Department of Athletics will present a series of five video interviews with black athletes and coaches at UCSB.

The first in the series will feature David Campbell, director of academic and internal affairs for men’s basketball. Campbell discusses his father, William, who was one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, and the first African American to drop a bomb on an enemy target. Click here to view the videos online. A new video will be presented each week during the monthlong celebration.

Following is a list of some of the events — all of which are free, unless otherwise noted — and open to the public:

» “An Evening of Jazz with Sacred Urban Echoes” will feature acclaimed vocalist Dwight Trible and award-winning performance poet Kamau Daaood, who will present socially conscious music and poetry ranging from spiritual jazz to the avant-garde, all deeply rooted in African-American traditions. 8 p.m. Friday at the MultiCultural Center. Tickets are $5 and $15.

» Film screening: Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen will bring to life the stories of six thoughtful, eloquent and diverse transmen. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10 in the MultiCultural Center Theater. A discussion with members of UCSB’s Black Student Union will follow.

» Film screening: In the feature documentary Traces of Trade: A Story From the Deep South, filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. Retracing the Triangle trade, she gains a powerful perspective on the black/white divide. 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24 in the MultiCultural Center Theater. A discussion with Wade Clark Roof, the J.F. Rowny Professor of Religion and Society at UCSB, and Gloria Willingham, associate dean of the School of Educational Leadership & Change at the Fielding Graduate Institute, will follow.

» Lecture: UCSB black studies undergraduate Eziaku Nwokocha will give a talk on Haiti and the practice of vodou. Noon, Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the Center for Black Studies Research, 4603 South Hall.

» Exhibition: “The African Diaspora: Ties That Bind” through Feb. 28 at the Ethnic and Gender Studies Library on the second floor of Davidson Library. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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