Black History Month
Support the Black Student Alliance by purchasing a t-shirt, hoodie, and more with the 2024 theme!
EVENTS
Kiara Hill Ph.D.
February 7, 2024
11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Color Rapping Revisited
Zoom Event
This talk will explore the cultural legacy of the Black Arts Movement in Springfield, MA through the community-based art practice of artist, muralist and activist, Nelson Stevens.
Kiara Hill Ph.D, is a Visiting Assistant Professor who teaches courses in Art History, and the Art + Social Practice MFA Program in the School of Art + Design at Portland State University. She earned her B.A. in Mass Communications at Sacramento State University, her M.A. in Women's Studies at the University of Alabama, and recently completed her Ph.D. in Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts. Her research focuses on the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s with an emphasis on Black women artists and cultural workers. Hill is also a curator of African American visual art and culture, and recently served as the Curatorial and Interpretive Advisor for the exhibition, Nelson Stevens: Color Rapping organized by the D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts.
February 8, 2024
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Prof. Glover: Talk about his work, current exhibit plus Q & A
Kittredge Center (KC) 301
Presentation and Q & A about Prof. Glover's newest exhibit.
- Raishad JaBar Glover was born in 1980 in Heidelberg, Germany. Glover attended The Governor's School for the Arts in Greenville, SC; attended New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in New Orleans, LA (High School Diploma); attended the Xavier University of Louisiana; attended Tufts University, School of Museum for Fine Arts in Boston (Studio Diploma); attended Yale University, Yale School of Art in New Haven, CT (MFA). Glover considers himself a Conceptual artist who practices with mediums such as Lenticular Printing, Graphite Powder, Beeswax, Dura-trans/backlit Film, Analog/Digital Photography, and LED Lights. Previously, Raishad has taught, Sustainable Architectural Design at Putney Student Travel, was a Computing Specialist at Yale University Digital Media Center for the Arts, an Assistant Professor of Studio Art, and Digital Design at Claflin University (HBCU), to name a few. He is currently a Full Time Art Instructor teaching 2D-Design, Painting and Drawing at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke MA. Glover was a Board Member for Columbia Museum of Art FAAAC and a Board Member for Orangeburg County Fine Art Center. He is currently a Board Member of the Phoenix Foundation World Mission as the Visual Communication Director. Glover has exhibited his work in the United Kingdom, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, New York, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Washington DC, Connecticut, and Georgia. Glover studio is in Northampton, MA. The George Gallery in Charleston SC and Charlotte NC represents him.
February 14, 2024
11 a.m. - 12:15 pm
Open Mic & Taste of the Diaspora
Cafeteria Stage, Campus Center 2nd floor
A student-centered open mic event hosted by the BSA and LEA club. Catered food will represent various cultures throughout the African Diaspora.
Tuesday, February 20
9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde: A Birthday Celebration
Audre Lorde Readings & Discussion
12 p.m. - 3 p.m.
The Pieces I Am (Toni Morrison) & Discussion
The Learning Collaborative (FR 265)
*drop-ins welcome & encouraged!*
Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison, two of the twentieth century's greatest writers, thinkers, and creators, were both born on February 18. In keeping with the Black History Month theme of African Americans and the Arts, we honor these luminaries by celebrating their shared birthday. Join us for cake, celebration, and films which honor their work, lives, and legacies.
February 21, 2024
11 a.m. - 12: 15 p.m.
Amherst Area Gospel Choir Performance
Fine Arts Theatre
Join the Amherst Area Gospel Choir for a gospel singing performance that celebrates Black gospel music and its spiritual and artistic forms.
February, 22, 2024
11:00 am. - 12:15 p.m
Write the Way: A Reading and Conversation with Nicole Young-Martin Ed.D.
Staff Faculty Dining Room, Campus Center (CC) 224
- Nicole Young-Martin Ed.D. will read for 20-25 minutes, followed by open conversations with students about her work (including album, writing fellowship program and the chapbook anthology she edited a while back) and Black Writers Read for 20 minutes (specifically talking about the importance of marginalized voices in the literary canon, hence the title). She will also donate books for the Black Writers Read bookshelf, which will reside in El Centro.
- Nicole Young-Martin Ed.D. (she/her) is a performer, writer, event curator, educator and nonprofit professional with over 20 years of experience combined in these areas. Nicole has worked across various disciplines, including theater, poetry, and classical music. Shereleased her debut spoken word album, In/Put: Live from the Valley in 2019. Her play, get (t)his!, received a 2009 James Baldwin Memorial Playwriting Award from the Five Colleges Multicultural Theater Committee and has since been produced in Michigan and New York City. Nicole is the producer and host of the Black Writers Read podcast, serves as the Director of Operations for Enchanted Circle, and teaches at Bard Microcollege Holyoke and UMass Amherst. Originally from Detroit, she recently received a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Bay Path University. www.nicolemyoung.com and blackwritersread.com
February, 28, 2024
Phenomenal Black Women's Panel
11:00 am. - 12:15 p.m.
Staff Faculty Dining Room, Campus Center (CC) 224
Our local community has an incredible group of phenomenal Black women leaders. Their genius, histories, contributions, and successes are inspiring and serve to tell a story to our students about their potential for greatness. With this panel, we are creating an opportunity for our students to see their reflections mirrored, learning from the participant's insights about what it means to aspire to our dreams and what it takes to live them.
- Jada J. Waters Ed.D.
- Erika Slocumb
- Kandice E. Jones
- Qua'Nae Golston-Thomas
