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Black History Month

The Northwestern community highlights African and African American culture through a variety of events, including guest speakers, panel discussions, films, social gatherings, theatrical performances and literary forums, just to name a few.

All throughout the month we have new and exciting events, collaborations, and contributions from students, staff, faculty, and the campus community.

2020 EVENTS

January 31- Harambee-A Black History Month Kick-Off Celebration

Swahili for “pull together,” "Harambee" is used as a rallying cry in Kenya for coming together and gathering resources. Harambee kicks off Black History Month with various performances and food for all to enjoy. Sponsored by: For Members Only (FMO) and Multicultural Student Affairs.

February 3- Black House Community Night- Black and Queer Conversation

What does it mean to be an ally? How is solidarity created amongst Black and Queer students on campus? Let’s talk about it! Join us for a self-reflective, engaging, and courageous community conversation on Black & Queer solidarity.

February 4- BHM x Solidaritea: Intersections of Black and APIDA communities

Solidari-tea is a series program, geared to celebrating and exploring the many facets of the APIDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi- American) identity. For Black History Month, MSA is hosting a “crossover” event, bringing an opportunity for cross cultural dialogue around the shared histories and commonalities existent within APIDA and Black communities. Join us for what is sure to be an interactive and engaging conversation!

February 6- Association of Black Leaders meeting

 The Association of Black Leaders (ABL) is a collective of leaders from Black student organizations across campus. We meet monthly to provide support to other Black leaders, discuss programming and opportunities to collaborate as well as participate in leadership development to help strengthen our respective organizations. For our February meeting, we are excited to have guest speaker, Charla Wilson, Archivist for the Black Experience at Northwestern, speak to us about the role we play in legacy building and our critical responsibility to archive our work for generations to come. If you are the leader of a Black student organization, we invite you to come out and join us!  

February 10- Black House Community Night: Sip and Paint

Let your creativity flow and join us for an evening of expressive arts! A painting tutorial will be provided for you to create a Black History Month themed work of art. Dinner will be provided. 

February 11- BHM x Harvest: Intersections of Black and Native/ Indigenous communities

Harvest is a series program geared to celebrating and exploring the many facets of the Native and Indigenous community. In celebration of Black History Month, MSA is hosting a “crossover” event, bringing an opportunity for cross cultural dialogue around the shared histories and commonalities existent within Native, Indigenous and Black communities. Join us for what is sure to be an interactive and engaging conversation. Dinner is provided.      

February 14- Lovin’ You: A Poetry Workshop about Self-Love featuring Harold Green III

This workshop would be based on the three Greek loves, Eros, Philia, and Agape. Participants will examine how they love themselves through an existential lens of how they share and accept love from and with the world. "Self-care" and "Love Language" are buzzwords that stem from self-definition. Not only do you have to question what type of love you desire, but what type of love do you think you deserve. The type of love one believes they deserve from their partner, friend, and the world says a lot about what type of love they are willing to give themselves.

February 17- Black House Community Night- For the Culture Game Night

Do it for the culture! Join us for an evening of friendly competition as we play card games, answer trivia questions centered in Blackness. Dinner will be provided. 

February 19-A Program Centering the Lived Experience of Black Women and Femmes*

We are virtual and we are b(l)ack! Northwestern's Women's Center is proud to host 'A Program Centering the Lived Experience of Black Women and Femmes', an affinity space centering the experiences of Black women, femmes and non-binary people. We welcome all to join us for our biweekly meetings at 1:00 PM where we will spend time checking in on each other and dialogue about various topics.

Faculty, staff and students (especially graduate and professional students) are encouraged to attend. Regardless of whether you work, study, or conduct research on the Evanston campus or Chicago campus, we would love to have you! Hosted by: Njoki Kamau (Women's Center) and Alyscia Raines (Multicultural Student Affairs).

*This event was previously named Black Girl Meetup.  The program was renamed after a complaint was filed with the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

February 24- Black House Community Night- Afrobeats Dance Party

Let’s DANCE! Celebrate Black History Month with an AfroBeats dance workshop facilitated by members of AfroThunda. Dinner will be provided.

Recent Years Event Listings

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