Friday, Feb. 4
7:00PM
PARLIAMENT DEM CLUB Presents U.S. REP. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
7pm: Parliament Democratic Club will host a meet-and-speak with Cong. Towns, 10th CD, reporting on what’s happening on the federal level that’s directly impacting the Central Brooklyn community. All are welcome with refreshments included. 18 Putnam Avenue/Grand Ave.
Saturday, Feb. 5
SAY IT PLAIN – A CENTURY OF GREAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN SPEECHES (RADIO)
6am on 93.9FM: Program highlights landmark sermons, speeches and broadcasts by African-American orators over the past century. Includes: Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, Shirley Chisholm, Julian Bond.
Saturday, Feb. 5
COALITION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION Presents Teaching Children Black History Forum
1pm: Brooklyn Chapter of the Coalition for Public Education to host forum: What To Teach Our Children About Our History/Heritage? at Bed-Stuy Restoration, 1368 Fulton Street, 5th Floor. Speakers for the event include Mr. Hamurabi-Bey (father of Hip-Hop legend Doug E. Fresh), an expert on Moorish History; Dr. Safiya Bandele, Director of the Women’s Center at Medgar Evers College; Mr. Basir Mchawi, host of Education at the Crossroads, WBAI 99.5FM. Details: (718) 237-1928 or (718) 857-1427.
Saturday, Feb. 5 – Sunday, Feb. 6
OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND at the APOLLO!
12noon each day: This celebration grants patrons a free weekend to landmark venue and includes: self-guided tour and explorations of the theater and its history, film screenings, health tests, interactive family activities. 253 West 125th Street, near 8th Avenue, Manhattan.
Monday, Feb. 7
END OF THE NEGRO WRITER: Julian Mayfield, John Henrik Clarke and James Baldwin
6pm: Join the Schomburg Center for a discussion and book-signing featuring Dr. Lawrence Jackson, Professor of English and Africa American Studies at Emory University and author of The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960. Book-signing will follow the event at the Center, 515 Malcolm X Blvd. at 135th St., Manhattan.
URBAN STAGES’ PRESENTS SOJOURNER TRUTH DIRECTED BY TRAZANA BEVERLY
7pm: Written by Cesi Davidson and directed by award-winning actress Trazana Beverly, Sojourner Truth launches city neighborhood tour with this evening’s performance at Urban Stages, 259 W. 30th St. in NYC. The children and family-friendly theatrical on a chapter in the life of the outspoken 19th century activist is 45mins. and free to the public. Details of full schedule of 13 library performances. (212) 421-1380.
Thursday, February 10
CENTER FOR BLACK LITERATURE Hosts John Oliver Killens Reading Series
6:30pm:The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College hosts the John Oliver Killens Reading Series entitled “Literary Activists of the Indignant Generation” in the E.O. Jackson Auditorium – 1638 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn.
Saturday, Feb.12
FREEDOM PARTY convenes First Convention to Develop Agenda
9am: First Freedom Party Convention at the National Black Theatre on 5th Avenue & 125th Street, Harlem NYC. Speakers include co-chairs Jitu Weusi and Viola Plummer, NYC Councilman Charles Barron, Attorney Ramon Jimenez, Bob Law, and invited guests. The Freedom Party was launched in June 2010 as a political party that represents working-class people with a focus on issues facing Black and Latino communities in New York State. The Freedom Party garnered the most votes of all third party candidates running in the November 2010 NYC election. The agenda for the Freedom Party Convention will be discussed. Details: (718) 398-1766.
www.freedomparty.nys.com
DR. LARRY RIDLEY and the JAZZ LEGACY ENSEMBLE
7pm: Dr. Ridley and the Jazz Legacy Ensemble in concert, features special guests, young jazz artists representing Jazz Studies Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Tickets: Members, $16; Nonmembers, $20. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd, Manhattan. Call The Shop: 212-491-2206.
Saturday, Feb. 13
BACK OF THE BUS: MASS TRANSIT, RACE AND INEQUALITY (RADIO)
6am on 93.9FM: In the ’60s, highway projects nearly destroyed African-American communities. Now in this collaborative reporting project from Transportation Nation and WNYC, “Back of the Bus” investigates why America’s people of color still struggle for equal treatment in public transportation.
Monday, Feb. 14
MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY OF PIONEERING PIANIST HAZEL SCOTT (RADIO)
8pm on 93.9FM: Portrait of the wife of late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and Juilliard-trained pianist who became a trailblazer in Hollywood, an outspoken civil rights activist which made her a political target and, ultimately, an outcast ostracized by the church community because of her music.
Monday, Feb. 14 – Friday, Feb. 18
Black History Month
YOUTH FILM SERIES
10am each day: Schomburg Center presents a week-long film series to empower youth audiences with the knowledge of the global black experience. Seating is limited. Schomburg: 515 Malcolm X. Blvd. at 135th Street.
Tuesday, Feb. 15
SAY IT LOUD: GREAT SPEECHES ON CIVIL RIGHTS & AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDENTITY (RADIO)
8pm on 93.9FM: Program traces the last half-century of Black history through speeches by African Americans from across the political spectrum.
Thursday, Feb. 17 STATE OF SIEGE: Mississippi Whites And The Civil Rights Movement (Radio)
8pm on 93.9FM: Broadcast features stories and strategies of the white opponents in Mississippi during the ’60s, including their extraordinary tactics used to battle integration-and the legacy they left.
The Tuskegee Airmen.
Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s
FREE Thursday Night for All Ages
FEBRUARY 17
5:00-7:30pm: Join BCM in welcoming Captain Desmond Powell (78th Air Refueling Division), member of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring the accomplishments and perpetuating the history of African-Americans who participated in air crew, ground crew, and operations support training in the Army Air Corps during WWII. Meet and greet with Captain Desmond Powell at 6:00pm and then enjoy BCM’s unique Take Flight program. St. Marks & Brooklyn Aves.
Friday, Feb. 18
James Baldwin’s Global Imagination: A Conference Marking his 85th Anniversary
6pm: The Schomburg Center is hosting the opening keynote and plenary session for James Baldwin’s Global Imagination. 515 Malcolm X Blvd at 135th Street.
Saturday, Feb. 19
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK: DuBOIS, SCHOMBURG, HURSTON, DUNHAM
10am: Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute’s 6th Annual Redefining African-American Conference presents Laying the Groundwork: DuBois, Schomburg, Hurston and Dunham – Trailblazing the Investigation of the African Diasporan Aesthetic, a daylong conference co-sponsored by the Schomburg Center, 515 Malcolm X Blvd, Manhattan. For more information 212-307-7420., ext. 3008
Saturday, Feb. 26
TO YOU, MR. HUGHES
3pm & 7pm: Dramatic Musical tribute to Langston Hughes, poet laureate of Harlem, written and directed by Hazel Rosetta Smith. Help Somebody Theatrical Ministries at the Schomburg Center, 515 Malcolm X. Blvd, Manhattan. Tickets: Members, $16; Nonmembers, $20.The Shop: 212-491-2209
Monday, Feb. 28
A TRIBUTE TO BETTY ALLEN
7pm: The New York City Opera in collaboration with the Schomburg Center, salutes Betty Allen at the Schomburg Center, 515 Malcolm X. Blvd., Manhattan. Tickets: $10.