SMU celebrates Black History Month
SMU is celebrating Black History Month during February with a variety of events and presentations.
The theme for SMU’s Black History Month 2016 is “Black Mustangs Matter.” It is coordinated by the Association of Black Students and SMU's Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.
The month includes movies, a commemoration, a black business vendors fair, games, discussions and a gala.
A calendar of events follows. Please send questions to multicultural@smu.edu.
| Feb. 5 Friday |
CineBLACK: "Fruitvale Station" | |
| When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Atriums A and B About: Every Friday during February, a film that highlights Black History will be shown. There will be a discussion following the film regarding the importance of these films and how they are related to Black Americans today. The film* is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, who was killed in 2009 by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station in Oakland, Calif. |
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| Feb. 6 Saturday |
Pamela Bailey Performs Historical Music with Storytelling | |
| When: 7 p.m. Where: O'Donnell Hall in Owen Arts Center - Room 2130 RSVP: Required. Please notify pjbailey@smu.edu About: Singer, writer, and staff member Pamela Bailey will perform historical music with storytelling to explore little- known aspects of American race and culture. Following the performance, a distinguished panel of SMU faculty and staff will discuss the preservation or elimination of historic symbols of the South. |
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| Feb. 7 Sunday |
Super Bowl Watch Party - National Pan-Hellenic Council |
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| When: 5:30 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - M Lounge About: The National Panhellenic Council will host a showing of the 50th NFL Super Bowl. |
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| Feb. 12 Friday |
CineBLACK: "School Daze" - National Pan-Hellenic Council | |
| When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Atriums A and B About: Every Friday, a film that highlights Black History will be shown. There will be a discussion following the film regarding the importance of these films and how they are related to Black Americans today. The film* is about a not-so-popular young man who wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college. |
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| How Spiritual Faith Impacted the Civil Rights Movement in America | ||
| When: 9:30 a.m. Where: Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Great Hall, 5901 Bishop Blvd. About: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch presents The Bolin Family Public Life/Personal Faith Colloquium. The event is free and open to the public. Read more. |
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| Feb. 15 Monday |
SMU Hosts the August Wilson Monologue Competition | |
| When: 6 p.m. Where: Greer Garson Theatre About: Eighty high school students deliver passionate three-minute monologues selected from a body of work by American playwright August Wilson. Two winners will be selected for an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to compete in the national August Wilson Monologue Competition finals on May 2. Read more. |
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| Feb. 16 Tuesday |
Vendor Fair | |
| When: 2 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Commons About: Several black business owners will have a table to showcase their business, so that we can begin and/or continue to support them. |
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| Black Excellence in the Real World - Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. | ||
| When: 7:13 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Promenades About: The Nu Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will bring in a number of graduate school programs and other organizations that will be able to give students information on how to move forward and be successful in life after college. |
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| Feb. 17 Wednesday |
Real Talk-Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter Who's right? Who's wrong? | |
| When: Noon Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Atriums C and D About: Real Talk is an opportunity for the entire campus community to come together and have a real and open discussion about the proposed topic. |
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| Black History Game Night - National Society of Black Engineers | ||
| When: 7 p.m. Where: Caruth Hall - Room 379 About: The National Society of Black Engineers will host a game in which people can learn about and discuss Black History. |
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| Feb. 18 Thursday |
Black Women in Politics | |
| When: 7 p.m. Where: Underwood Law Library - Walsh Room About: Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and SMU Professor of Law Jessica Dixon Weaver will discuss, among other things, election season, the collegiate demographic's influence on the political sphere, and how to invoke legal change regarding social issues. |
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| Feb. 19 Friday |
CineBLACK: "Do the Right Thing" | |
| When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Forum About: Every Friday, a film that highlights Black History will be shown. There will be a discussion following the film regarding the importance of these films and how they are related to Black Americans today. The film* takes place on the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence. |
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| Feb. 26 Friday |
CineBLACK: "The Great Debaters" | |
| When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Atriums A and B About: Every Friday, a film that highlights Black History will be shown. There will be a discussion following the film regarding the importance of these films and how they are related to Black Americans today. The film* is based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. |
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| Progression of the Black Woman - Sisters Supporting Sisters |
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| When: 8 p.m. Where: Hughes-Trigg Student Center - Theatre About: Sisters Supporting Sisters presents several monologues to showcase the lives of black women through history from pre-slavery to the present. |
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| Feb. 27 Saturday |
5th Annual Black Excellence Ball | |
| When: 6:30 p.m. Where: The Mack Ballroom of the Umphrey Lee Center RSVP: Required. Please notify multicultural@smu.edu About: Formal attire required. The Black Excellence Ball was started five years ago as a way to celebrate achievement and excellence. The Association of Black Students and the Black Alumni of SMU host this event. |
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* The films' descriptions are courtesy of IMDb.