College's Online Series Highlights Black History Month

To celebrate Black History Month this year, Thomas Nelson Student Life and Leadership Coordinator Kadisia Archer wanted to do something different. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often is the first person to come to mind when it comes to celebrating Black history, and deservedly so.

However, she wanted to make sure the conversation didn't start and end with King and other Civil Rights activists.

"There are a lot of artists who have contributed to the cause of Black History or elevating challenges that African-Americans face, and they do it through their art," she said.

One such artist, K'bana Blaq, quickly came to mind. He's a musician from Hampton who has worked with the College in the past. Archer thought he would be ideal for what she had in mind.

"We hear a lot about the Civil Rights, but there are lots of contributions continuously being made by others before and after," she said, noting how "artists use their words to convey emotions and to reach out and to sometimes move forward."

The result was a series of Zoom gatherings called "Poets, Music and the Stage" led by Blaq. The musician put together short videos highlighting artistic works (poems, songs, etc.) by many American artists. The second talk took place Feb. 4, and the subject was Jill Scott, a singer, songwriter, model, poet and actress. The first talk, held Jan. 28, featured Nina Simone, a singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and Civil Rights activist.

"It worked out so much nicer than I ever could have imagined," Archer said of the most recent Zoom gathering, which drew almost 30 people.

Archer said she let Blaq decide on the subjects, but he did run the list by her.

"I thought it was a pretty good lineup, so we decided to go with that," she said.

The remaining lineup:

Feb. 11: James Baldwin, a novelist, playwright, essayist, poet and activist.

Feb. 18: Nikki Giovanni, a poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. She's been a Virginia Tech faculty member since 1987 and wrote an emotional poem after the shootings on the Blacksburg campus in 2007.

Feb. 25: Lauryn Hill, a singer, and Common (born Lonnie Rashid Lyn). Common, like Hill, is a rapper and songwriter.

All events start at noon on the scheduled day and run for an hour. For more information, go to https://www.vpcc.edu/events/index.html.

The end of that series won't be the end of events the College has planned for Black History Month. Alicia Riley, the College's Special Events Manager, is putting together a two-day virtual seminar at the end of the month called "Family Matters."

On Feb. 26 it runs from 5-9 p.m., and features a kitchen table conversation; talks from Thomas Nelson President Dr. Towuanna Porter Brannon, and Blair Durham, co-Founder of Black Brand; and a career elevation session followed by a networking session. The following day brings virtual events from 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. targeting children, budgeting and investing and writing.

More on this two-day event will be available soon.