A live art performance, an evening of soul food and jazz and a student march to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 march in Alabama are just some of the events to be held in February as University of Wisconsin Oshkosh celebrates Black History Month.
The Black Student Union collaborates with several groups on campus to coordinate the annual program. This year, the focus is “Activism, Race, and Identity: Remembering the Determination of the Civil Rights Movement.”
The national annual observance is a great opportunity for UW Oshkosh students, faculty and staff to reflect upon the achievements and contributions of people and events in the history of the African diaspora.
Black History Month Calendar of Events
A student event to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on Selma is part of Black History Month events at UWO in February
Black History Month Kickoff
Reeve Memorial Union, Room 307
5:30 to 7 p.m. (Art Gallery Showcase)
7 to 8 p.m. (guest speakers)
Michelle Kuhl, associate professor of history at UW Oshkosh, will briefly discuss 1619 to 1965, examining how African Americans developed creative strategies to overcome oppression and infuse their lives with dignity. This talk will look at how great individuals and groups of ordinary people worked to resist exploitation and make America live up to its promise. Emmet Sandberg, assistant professor of art at UW Oshkosh, will briefly discuss the importance of collaborative engagement, socially engaged art, and why it is beneficial for us (particularly students) to have an active role in the creation and development of memorial-based art projects. An amateur art showcase will be displayed in the Reeve Memorial Union art gallery, in conjunction with the discussion.
Sponsored by: Reeve Memorial Union (Art Gallery) and Black Student Union
Wednesday, Feb. 3
Kingian Nonviolence Workshop
Reeve Memorial Union, Room 306
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Timothy Sams, vice president for student development at Morehouse College
This nonviolence workshop is an opportunity to develop an approach of actionable steps as followed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement through thoughtful and strategic methodology.
Sponsored by: Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence and Black Student Union
Friday, Feb. 5
House Party: African American Studies Program Film Series
Sage Hall, Room 1234
5 to 7 p.m.
Facilitator: Norlisha Crawford, associate professor of English and African American Studies program director at UWO
In this film a young high school student has been invited to a party at his friend’s house. But after a fight at school, his father grounds him. Nonetheless, he sneaks out when his father falls asleep. But he doesn’t know that three of the thugs he got into a fight with at school have decided to give him a lesson in behavior. Directed and written by Reginald Hudlin.
Sponsored by: African American Studies Program
Tuesday, Feb. 9
Straight Outta Compton: History Club Film Series
Sage Hall, Room 1210
6:30 to 9 p.m.
Facilitator: Stephen Kercher, chair and professor, history department at UWO
The group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, Calif., in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood. This film is directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff.
Sponsored by: History Club and Black Student Union
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Middle of Nowhere: African American Studies Program Film Series
Sage Hall, Room 1234
5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Caryn Murphy, associate professor, department of radio-TV-film at UWO
When her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison, Ruby drops out of medical school in order to focus on her husband’s well being while he’s incarcerated—leading her on a journey of self-discovery in the process. This film is directed and written by Ava DuVernay.
Sponsored by: African American Studies Program
Friday, Feb. 12
Black Lives Matter II: Student Panel Discussion
Reeve Memorial Union, 201
12:30 to 2 p.m.
Facilitator: Norlisha Crawford, associate professor of English and African American Studies program director at UWO
Join us as we discuss current topics and issues surrounding race, identity, discrimination and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Sponsored by: African American Studies Program
Saturday, Feb. 13
Cookin’ Soul: Soul Food Sampling and Live Jazz
Pollock House
4 to 6 p.m.
Musical Guest: Ronald Lee (Trumpet Artist)
Get a taste of traditional Southern cuisine and enjoy a live jazz solo performance.
Sponsored by: Black Student Union
Monday, Feb. 15
Do the Right Thing: African American Studies Program Film Series
Sage Hall, Room 1234
5:30 to 8 p.m.
Facilitator: Morgan Foster, lecturer, English at UWO
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone’s hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence. Film directed and written by Spike Lee.
Sponsored by: African American Studies Program
Tuesday, Feb. 16
Beauty in Truth: LGBTQ Resource Center Film Series
Reeve Memorial Union, Room 307
6:30 to 8 p.m.
Facilitator: Liz Cannon, director, LGBTQ Resource Center at UWO
Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth is a feature documentary film which tells the compelling story of an extraordinary woman’s journey from her birth in a paper-thin shack in cotton fields of Putnam County, Ga., to her recognition as a key writer of the 20th Century. Alice Walker made history as the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her groundbreaking novel, The Color Purple, which has been transformed from a novel to a Hollywood movie and later to a successful Broadway musical. This universal story of triumph against all odds is not that different from Walker’s own story.
Sponsored by: LGBTQ Resource Center and Black Student Union
Wednesday, Feb. 17
Dream Big Dreams: Women’s Center Film Series
Reeve Memorial Union, Room 307
6 to 8 p.m.
Facilitator: Tracey Brooks Robertson, executive director, FIT Oshkosh, Inc.
This documentary showcases Velvalea Rodgers “Vel” Phillips, a Wisconsin attorney who served as a local official and judge in Milwaukee and as Secretary of State of Wisconsin, often as the first woman and/or African American in her position.
Sponsored by: Women’s Center and Black Student Union
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Flag Wars: African American Studies Program Film Series
Sage Hall, Room 1234
10:10 a.m. to noon
Facilitator: Paul Van Auken, sociology and environmental studies faculty, chair of sociology department at UWO
This documentary follows the conflicts that arise when gay white professionals move into a black working-class neighborhood. Filmed over four years in Columbus, Ohio, “Flag Wars” leads viewers on an eye-opening journey into a divided community. Directed by Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras.
Sponsored by: African American Studies Program
Thursday, Feb. 25
Remembering the March
Arts and Communication Center, main entrance (starting point for student commemoration march)
4 to 4:30 p.m.
Student commemoration march followed by the viewing of the film Selma
Sage Hall, Room 1232
4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
In remembrance of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a wing of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference formed to coordinate the action of local protest groups throughout the South in the 1960s. SNCC empowered young people who had emerged as leaders of the sit-in protest movement. Initiated by African American college students of the time, join us for a commemoration, remembering the dedication of our fore leaders. A student led commemoration march, beginning at the Arts & Communication Center will end in Sage Hall Room 1232 with a viewing of the 2014 film Selma, a chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King’s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965. Directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb.
Sponsored by: Black Student Union
Monday, Feb. 29
Race in the 21st Century: Meditations on the Nexus of Race, Identity, and Courage in the U.S.
Sage Hall, Room 1216
4 to 5:30 p.m.
Guest Speaker: Norlisha Crawford, associate professor of English and African American Studies program director at UWO
Personal thoughts from ordinary people, including students, deciding to allow themselves to see that racial prejudices are still infecting all of our lives are the subject of this presentation. The discomfort and poor preparation for ending racism in our society is obvious. We each, as individuals, have to find the courage to acknowledge, confront and refuse racism, especially in the subtle, often behind-the-scenes ways it influences our own lives.
Sponsored by: African American Studies Program and Black Student Union
Sponsors include: Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence, African American Studies Program, Black Student Union, History Club, LGBTQ Resource Center, Office of Equity and Affirmative Action, Omega Delta Phi, Reeve Memorial Union and Women’s Center.