BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023
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| Accommodations Statement: UNC Charlotte is committed to having an accessible campus for individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), individuals should complete a request form or email the request to accessibility.charlotte.edu, or contact the Office of Disability Services at 704‑687‑0040 (tty/v). Requests should be made at least 7 business days prior to the event. |
Need some tunes to get you through your day? Check out and follow our ODI presents #Issa49erVibe heritage month playlists on Spotify.
In the meantime, shout out to all of our students, faculty, and staff who contributed to assembling this playlist. Thank you for sharing your great taste for music with Niner Nation and our surrounding communities.
Check out the Black History Month films that are now playing at Popp Martin
February 1st Audacity: The Life and Liberation Legacy of Robert F. Williams, a Discussion with Connie M. Williams
J. Murrey Atkins Library: Halton Reading Room
2:00 pm to 3:15 pm
Sponsored by: UNC Charlotte’s Center for the Study of the New South, Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Department of Africana Studies, Department of English, Honors College, Atkins Library, Officer of Diversity and Inclusion, Romare Bearden Branch of Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Connie Williams speaks about her new book about her cousin, pioneering Civil Rights leader Robert F. Williams of Monroe, NC, "Audacity: Story of a Legendary Hero." Connie Williams is a local figure known for her distinguished career as a skillful writer of prose and poetry. Until her retirement in 2014, she was a lecturer of English Composition and Rhetoric at UNC Charlotte. Author of numerous books, Williams has also dedicated her life to arts education and outreach. Williams created the Emily’s Blues Self-Actualization Project, and she volunteered her services to help deter high school dropouts. Robert F. Williams was a civil rights leader whose open advocacy of armed self-defense anticipated the movement for “black power” in the late 1960s. Elected president of Monroe's chapter of the NAACP, he soon made international headlines for his role in the so-called “Kissing Case,” in which two black children were jailed for kissing a young white girl. In 1959 he began publishing his own newsletter, the Crusader. He was eventually driven into exile by the US government, as he was several years ahead of his time in advocating uncompromising tactics of self-defense.
February 8th “There’s ‘History,’ and Then There’s ‘Herstory’”: A Historian’s Enthralling Journey to Recover, Reclaim, and Preserve Dr. Bertha Maxwell-Roddey’s Historical Witness and Legacy with Dr. Sonya Ramsey
J. Murrey Atkins Library: Halton Reading Room
5:30 pm t0 7:00 pm
Sponsored by: Atkins Library and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
In this lively discussion, UNC Charlotte Professor of History and Women’s and Gender Studies Dr. Sonya Y. Ramsey will share aspects of her fascinating experiences researching and writing about UNC Charlotte Africana Studies Department founder Dr. Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, the subject of her recently published work, Dr. Bertha Maxell-Roddey: a Modern-Day Race Woman and the Power of Black Leadership (University Press of Florida, 2022). Dr. Ramsey will also elaborate on the need to develop creative new research methods as we endeavor to chronicle the histories of other modern-day race women.
February 9th Black History Month Homage Exhibit
Popp-Martin Student Union
11:00 am to 8:00 pm
Sponsored by: Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement
The Homage Exhibit opens the door to the African-American experience in the United States from the time of Slavery to the election of Barack Obama. Highlights of the collection include slave transport collars, slave bills of sale, entertainment, legal papers documenting the horrors of the slave trade and original documents drawing attention to key figures such as Booker T. Washington, Shirley Chisholm, Frederick Douglas and various artifacts from moments in the civil rights movement.
February 15th Black History Month Food Truck Fest
Cato College of Education/College of Health and Human Services Quad
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sponsored by: Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement
The Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement will host a Black-Owned Food Truck Fest on the CHHS/COED Plaza from 11am-2pm. Join us for Black History trivia, music, candy, and fellowship. We will also give away 100 meal vouchers to two locally Black-owned food trucks.
Note: Meal vouchers are available for students only and are first come, first served. Both food trucks will also be serving meals all day for faculty and staff as well as for students who arrive after the meal vouchers have run out.
February 16th Black History Heritage Dinner
South Village (SoVi) Cafeteria
5:00 to 8:00 pm
Sponsored by: Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement
Join us for Black History trivia, music, candy, food, and fellowship as we celebrate culture and community at UNC Charlotte.
February 20th Intersectionality: AfroLatinidad, A Conversation on Afro Latinx Visibility
Lucas Room (located in Cone Center)
7:00 p.m.
Sponsored by: Latinx Student Union and Black Student Union
February 21st Charlotte Strings Collective Concert and Conversation
Rowe Recital Hall
7:30 p.m.
Sponsored by: Department of Music
The Department of Music presents a Faculty & Friends concert featuring the Charlotte Strings Collective, with special guest artist YUNG Citizen. The program includes music by Charlotte Strings Collective members Madison Bush and Adrian Gordon, and Taylor Byrd; historical composers Ignatius Sancho (1729-80), William Grant Still (1895-1978), and Duke Ellington (1899-1974); and a set of original work by YUNG Citizen. College of Arts+Architecture will also host a conversation on how we do and might continue to center Black artists and creators in our teaching and practice beyond Black History Month.
Tickets are $10 and $8. CoAA Faculty, Staff, and Students are eligible for free tickets to this performance. Please log into your Niner account in the ticketing system to redeem.
February 22nd The Black Read Discussion Group
J. Murrey Atkins Library- Halton Reading Room
6:00 -8:00 p.m.
Sponsored by: J. Murrey Atkins Library
Join Atkins Library to read and discuss passages from Black Literature, speeches, and correspondence.