February is Black History Month, a time to learn about and celebrate African American culture.
Virtual Black History Month Events at the White Plains Library
This February, the White Plains Library is celebrating Black History Month with various virtual events for all ages. A selection of events include a discussion and trivia game for 4 – 6th graders about the children’s book From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks(February 10th), and Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, a combined lecture and music performance featuring Flutist/Lecturer Galen Abdur-Razzaq (February 12).
To see a full list of Black History Month virtual events hosted by the White Plains Library, click here.
Author, Activist, and Artist: A Virtual Panel at the Hudson River Museum
In celebration of Black History Month, the Hudson River Museum has invited panelists to share their unique and representative perspectives on racial and environmental justice implications. Panelists include: Dr. Carolyn Finney, author of Black Faces, White Spaces and a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College in Vermont; Jose Gonzalez, Founder and Former Executive Director for Latino Outdoors, currently a partner at Avarna; and Jeremy Dennis, an artist of Shinnecock origin, whose work is on view at the Hudson River Museum in Landscape Art and Virtual Travel, documents ancient, sacred tribal lands.
Black History Month at the Hartford Public Library
Throughout February, the Hartford Public Library is hosting various virtual events to engage children with and educate them about Black History Month. Events include Black History Family Story Time with songs, rhymes and stories by African American artists (Mondays), and Black History Month Art Club highlighting African American artists as inspiration for children to create their own works of art.
To see a full list of Black History Month virtual events hosted by the Hartford Public Library, click here.
Westchester County African American Heritage Trail
While many of the events Westchester County typically holds to commemorate Black History Month have been postponed, residents can take a self-guided tour of the African American Heritage Trail and explore the African American historical sites and culture that is woven through Westchester’s communities.
Westchester has a long history as a home to African American culture. Westchester County is home to 14 historical landmarks on the African American Heritage Trail, dating back to the 17th century.
From the important collection of African art at the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, to the Jack Peterson Memorial in Croton, and the statue of Ella Fitzgerald in Yonkers, take a tour of Westchester’s African American cultural sites using the African American Heritage Trail as your guide.
Join The Norwalk Historical Society For a Virtual Lecture
Join The Norwalk Historical Society for a virtual lecture titled: “Honoring The Silent: Documenting African American & Native American History In Connecticut.”
The lecture will be given by Dennis Culliton, Founder and Executive Director of the Witness Stones Project and Dr. Katherine A. Hermes of “Uncovering Their History: Africans, African Americans and Native Americans in Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground, 1640 – 1815,” a project commissioned by the Ancient Burying Ground Association to find the names and information about the people of African and Native descent buried in Hartford’s oldest cemetery.
