Black History Month

MLK I Have a Dream Memorial

Join the University of Rhode Island community for a celebration of Black History Month, which begins Feb. 1-5, with a series of MLK Week events sponsored by the Multicultural Student Services Center, and continues throughout the month with events sponsored by the Department of Africana Studies. Thanks go to the many departments and groups throughout the University that have co-sponsored events or contributed to the 2016 URI celebration of Black History Month.

All events are free and open to the public. You are encouraged to register for MLK Week events.

MLK Week Events

Monday, Feb. 1

  • 10-10:30 a.m. Community Sing, co-sponsored by the Child Development Center. Preschoolers will perform songs that increase awareness of diversity. Memorial Union.
  • 3-4 p.m., “Oh, Freedom Over Me,” a musical production featuring Cheryl Albright, co-sponsored by the Africana Studies Program. Multicultural Student Services Center.

Tuesday, Feb. 2

  • Noon-1 p.m. Compassion Meditation Workshop with Thupten Tendar, a Buddhist monk and URI instructor, co-sponsored by the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies. Multicultural Student Services Center.
  • 5-6:30 p.m. Screening of “Martin Luther King and the March on Washington,” co-sponsored by the Department of Theatre. Multicultural Student Services Center.
  • 7-8 p.m. The Spirituality of Falun Gong, co-sponsored by the Falun Dafa Association of Rhode Island. Multicultural Student Services Center.

Wednesday, Feb. 3

  • 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Unity Luncheon with keynote speech by Ruby Nell Sales, social activist and key figure in the nation’s civil rights struggle. Join us for this sharing of food, song, and reflection to celebrate Dr. King’s ideas. The URI Chaplains Association will present the URI Peacemaker Award. Memorial Union.
  • 4-5:30 p.m. Ruby Nell Sales will speak about the role of spirituality in lessening racism. Multicultural Student Services Center.
  • 8 p.m. Interfaith Celebration, co-sponsored by the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Sankofa Christian Ministry, and the URI Chaplains Association. Multicultural Student Services Center.

Thursday, Feb. 4

 

  • 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., screening of “King: Man Of Peace In A Time of War,” a documentary featuring interviews with Jesse Jackson and Colin Powell that provide new insight into the life and personality of Dr. King. Multicultural Student Services Center.
  • 5-6 p.m. Discussion about “The Transformation of the Nation of Islam: From Malcolm X to Imam Warith,” co-sponsored by the Muslim Community Center of Kingston, the URI Muslim Student Association, the Muslim American Dawah Center of Rhode Island and Cross-Currents. The talk will feature Farid Ansari, Imam of the Muslim American Dawah Center of Rhode Island, who is on the Governor’s Commission for Police and Community Relations and a member of the board of directors for Rhode Island Community and Justice. Multicultural Student Services Center.

Friday, Feb. 5,

  • 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Martin Luther King Day of Service. URI students will help middle-school students from Paul Cuffee School, the Met School, Highlander Charter School and Calcutt Middle School. Co-sponsored by the School of Education, the URI Fraternities and Sororities, the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society and the Multicultural Unity and Student Involvement Committee. Multicultural Student Services Center.

More Black History Month Events

Now through Friday, Feb. 26

 

  • Providence Arts: Race Matters, an exhibit that features the work of Professor Bob Dilworth along with 20 notable local artists celebrating Racial and Cultural Diversity. Presented by URI Feinstein Providence Campus Arts and Culture Program. Feinstein Providence Campus, 1st and 2nd floor Lobby Gallery. 

Monday, Feb. 7

  • 1-4 p.m. Race Matters Reception, with story sharing at 2 p.m. Feinstein Providence Campus, 1st and 2nd floor Lobby Gallery.

Tuesday, February 8

  • 6 p.m. Black History Month Featured Film, 95 Upper College Road.

Monday, Feb. 15

  • 3 p.m. 2016 Marlen Bodden Africana Studies Lecture. Black History Month welcomes Nikole Hannah-Jones, an award-winning investigative reporter who covers civil rights and racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine.  Co-sponsored by Departments of Africana Studies, English, the Harrington School of Communication and Media, the College of Arts and Sciences. 95 Upper College Road.

Monday, Feb. 22

  • 2 p.m. Lecture by Professor John McCray: “Urban History of African Americans in Flint, Michigan, and the Water Crisis,” 95 Upper College Road.
  • 2-6 p.m. Lecture will be followed by an Open House, 95 Upper College Road. 

Wednesday, Feb. 24

  • The English Department’s Read/Write Series welcomes Grant Farred, Professor of Africana Studies and English at Cornell University, a leading voice in contemporary cultural studies and an internationally known thinker and writer on race. Swan Hall, Hoffman Room.