Building on the success of its MLK Day 2022 celebration featuring prominent educator, author and public speaker Cornel West, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will celebrate Black History Month with events throughout February.
The UTC Office of Multicultural Affairs has coordinated with entities across campus to offer a variety of programming.
“One of our departmental goals was to reach out and have more co-curricular programming,” said Multicultural Affairs Assistant Director Chris Stokes. “We have been reaching out to as many partners as we can to increase learning experiences for our students.”
The monthlong celebration begins Tuesday with a kickoff event from 2-4 p.m. on the first floor of Lupton Hall, featuring the music, culture and heritage of Black History Month.
“It’s a networking session in which students, faculty and staff are invited to the Multicultural Center to mix and mingle, have a good time and celebrate the day,” Stokes said.
Easels with historic milestones will be displayed as information printed on large boards so that the Multicultural Center can serve as a walking timeline.
“It will show Black history throughout the decades and feature iconic figures,” Stokes said. “We will also have images playing on the screens with information about Black History Month and how people can get involved.”
Highlights of the Black History Month calendar include:
- Fresh Friday networking events hosted weekly by the Multicultural Center: At noon each Friday in February, featuring UTC, local and historical highlights with different themes, including throwback music, vintage hairstyles, fashion across the decades, and art and soul.
- Open Mic Night (Feb. 10): Students are invited to Lupton Hall for a night of spoken word, song, storytelling and comedy.
- Africana Studies panel discussion (Feb. 16): History of Africana Studies at UTC.
- Black Artists and Their Style (Feb. 18): Featuring 1985 UTC alumnus Dennis Famble, owner of Sirius Graphics and Gallery in Atlanta.
- Taste of Black Chattanooga (Feb. 24): Various local, Black-owned restaurants share their wares during an on-campus visit.
More events are to come, Stokes said. Check with the Multicultural Center’s Black History Month webpage for the latest.
Black History Month’s forerunner was a week-long observance that took place the second week in February. It was conceived in 1926 by noted historian Carter G. Woodson, with the timeframe coinciding with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
The celebration to honor the contributions of African Americans who shaped history was expanded to a full month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial year, by President Gerald Ford, who urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
