DCC Events to Celebrate Black History Month
January 23, 2019 – A presentation by a New York Times best-selling author, a discussion on race and gender in comic art led by a professional artist and a lecture about the contribution of blacks to the STEM fields are just a few of the activities Dutchess Community College is offering to mark Black History Month. All of the events will be held at DCC’s Poughkeepsie campus and are free and open to the public.
New York Times best-selling author Renee Watson will be on campus Feb. 5 at 12:30 p.m. in Bowne Hall, room 122 to read from “Piecing Me Together,” her young-adult novel about an African American high school girl striving to achieve success without losing her identity in the process.
On Feb. 12 at 12:30 p.m.in the Mildred I. Washington Art Gallery in Washington Center, History Instructor Shalon Hallager, English Instructor Willie Morris and Chicago-based illustrator Ashley Woods will discuss how race and gender have been presented in comic and serialized art. Woods has worked on projects including “Niobe: She is Life,” “Tomb Raider: Survivor’s Crusade” and “Bitter Root.”
Dr. Jessica Amber Geer, assistant professor of chemistry, will talk about the journey, struggle and progress of black professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math on Feb. 15 at noon in Bowne Hall, room 122.
The full list of DCC Black History Month activities is below.
For more information about any of the events, please contact Jordan Bell at (845) 431-8424 or Willie Morris at (845) 431-8433.
Black History Month Film Series, 5:30 p.m., James and Betty Hall Theatre, Dutchess Hall
In collaboration with Communications Professor Camilo Rojas and the Communications program, five culturally relevant films will be shown on select dates through March, with a discussion and Q&A following each.
Jan. 28, “Before Night Falls”
Feb. 4, “Basquiat”
Feb. 11, “Hunger”
March 4, “Shame”
March 25, “12 Years a Slave”
Friday, February 1
Film: ‘A Band Called Death’
5-6:30 p.m., James and Betty Hall Theatre, Dutchess Hall
English Instructor Willie Morris will screen the documentary that tells the tale of three African-American brothers in Detroit who formed a rock band that presaged the punk music movement. There will be a Q and A following the film.
Tuesday, February 5
Author Talk: Renee Watson
12:30-1:45 p.m., Bowne Hall, room 122
The New York Times best-selling author will read from “Piecing Me Together,” her young-adult novel about an African American high school girl striving to achieve success without losing her identity in the process. Watson has earned a Newbery honor, the Coretta Scott King Author Award and an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature.
Friday, February 8
Kanye, You Don’t Know Everything
12-12:50 p.m., Bowne Hall, room 122
Dr. Weldon McWilliams, associate professor of history, will compare and contrast the meeting and endorsement of Richard Nixon by James Brown with the meeting and endorsement of Donald Trump by Kanye West and the impact of each on the black community.
Saturday, February 9
It’s Story Time, Boys and Girls
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Ritz Library, Hudson Hall second floor
Dr. Gail Upchurch Mills, associate professor of English, will read a series of beloved African American picture and story books that can be enjoyed by audience members of all ages.
Tuesday, February 12
Race, Gender and Representation in the Arts
12:30-1:45 p.m., Mildred I. Washington Art Gallery, Washington Center
History Instructor Shalon Hallager, English Instructor Willie Morris and Chicago-based illustrator Ashley Woods will discuss how race and gender have been presented in comic and serialized art. Woods has worked on projects including “Niobe: She is Life,” “Tomb Raider: Survivor’s Crusade” and “Bitter Root.” Her latest work will be seen in the upcoming Jordan Peele- and J.J. Abrams-produced TV show “Lovecraft Country.”
Friday, February 15
Blacks in the World of STEM
12-12:50 p.m., Bowne Hall, room 122
Dr. Jessica Amber Geer, assistant professor of chemistry, will talk about the journey, struggle and progress of black professionals in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
Thursday, February 21
Lyceum: We Gon’ Be Alright? Education and Justice in Black America
12:30-1:45 p.m., James and Betty Hall Theatre, Dutchess Hall
Dr. Carla Shedd, associate professor of sociology and urban education at The Graduate Center, CUNY, uses her scholarship to illuminate the perceptions, experiences and outcomes of black and Latinx youth in urban America. By deeply probing the symbiotic relationship between America’s systems of education and criminal justice, Shedd will offer a uniquely empirical examination of coming of age in an unequal society. This talk will reveal why the “carceral continuum” must be countered in order to ensure formative social institutions are carrying out their missions to educate, protect and uplift youth.
Friday, February 22
The Divide That Destroyed Poughkeepsie: Charting the History and Effects of the Poughkeepsie and Spackenkill School Districts
12-12:50 p.m., Bowne Hall, room 122
English Instructor Jordan Bell will discuss how the redistricting of the Poughkeepsie City School District into two separate districts – the Poughkeepsie City School District and the Spackenkill Union Free School District – contributed to racial disparities and an ongoing educational divide illustrated by the widely disparate graduation rates for each district’s high school: 96% for Spackenkill, 48% for Poughkeepsie.
Tuesday, February 26
Favorite Works of Black Literature: A Literary Read-In
12:30-1:45 p.m., Bowne Hall, room 122
Students, faculty, staff and community members will read passages from their favorite works of fiction, creative non-fiction, drama and poetry written by black authors.
For more information about any of the events, please contact Jordan Bell at jordan.bell@sunydutchess.edu.
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