2026 Black History Month Celebration – February 2026
Colors of Africa
Saturday, January 31 | 6 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom, Cedric Rucker University Center | PLEASE NOTE: This event is postponed and rescheduled to Saturday, February 21, 2026.
Sponsored by the African Student Union and the James Farmer Multicultural Center
Colors of Africa seeks to celebrate the culture that Black people create. Whether it is Black people of the African continent, African Americans, or the Caribbean, Blackness is a transnational and multicultural experience and it ought to be celebrated as such.
Black History Month Kick-Off Lunch: Southern Soul Food Lunch
Tuesday, Feb. 3 | 11:30 a.m. | Dining at the Top of the CRUC, Cedric Rucker University Center
Cost with Campus Meal Plan is one meal swipe or $15.27 Flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card purchase is $17.64, plus tax.
Gospelfest
Saturday, Feb. 7 | 3 p.m. | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
Join gospel choirs and praise dance teams as they engage in spiritual song and dance.
Early 20th Century Black Authors’ Influence on the Civil Rights Movement (CANCELED)
Monday, Feb. 9 | 5 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom A&B, Cedric Rucker University Center
This program offers the opportunity to hear about the research that students have written on the early 20th century Black authors and their influence on the civil rights movement. This panel will be moderated by Dr. Danny Tweedy and sponsored by the Department of English and Linguistics.
Black History Month Major Speaker: Fred Watkins
Wednesday, Feb. 11 | 7 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom A&B, Cedric Rucker University Center
Fred Watkins has been a professional photographer for over four decades, traveling worldwide and photographing celebrities and heads of state from Nelson Mandela to Muhammad Ali. He is the only African American to be in the White House Press Corps covering United States Presidents from George H. W, Bush to Donald Trump. He began his career in the streets of New York as a paparazzi and worked in the Time-Life photo New York City. He worked his way up doing freelance photography for Time, Life, and People magazines.
In 1988, he began working for Ebony and Jet Magazines (Johnson Publishing Company) as a staff photographer. He was the first photographer to capture President George W. Bush in his private quarters on Air Force One. He traveled with Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to Africa, and with Jesse Jackson all throughout Brazil. His most honored assignment was to document Nelson Mandela’s first tour of the United States after being released from prison in 1990.
From 1984 to 2024, he was Good Morning America’s freelance still photographer. His photographs appear in the Smithsonian’s African American Museum of History and Culture in Washington, DC,, the Gordon Parks Museum, the Muhammad Ali Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Bob Dylan Museum, among others. Last year, he was awarded the “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” by the Gordon Parks Museum in Fort Scott, Kansas. Additionally, he was recognized as Guest of Honor by photographers from around the world who came together in Selma, AL for the Photographic Nights of Selma Festival. April 6, 2024 was declared Fred Watkins Day by his home town of Greenwich, CT, and he received The Chairman’s Award from the National Black Farmers Association in October of 2023.
Sinners
Sunday, Feb. 15 | 3 p.m. | Monroe Hall, Room 116
Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their Mississippi hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back (Credit: IMDb).
Great Lives Series: Ellington, Armstrong, and Basie
Thursday, Feb. 19 | 7:30 p.m. | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
This is the story of three revolutionary American musicians, the maestro jazzmen who orchestrated the chords that throb at the soul of twentieth-century America:
Duke Ellington, the grandson of slaves who was christened Edward Kennedy Ellington, whose story is as layered and nuanced as his name suggests and whose music transcended category.
Louis Daniel Armstrong born in a New Orleans slum so tough it was called The Battlefield. His first musical instrument, a ten-cent tin horn that drew buyers to his rag-peddling wagon, set him on the road to elevating jazz into a pulsating force for spontaneity and freedom.
William James Basie, too, grew up in a world unfamiliar to white fans—the son of a coachman and laundress who dreamed of escaping every time the traveling carnival swept into town, and who finally engineered his getaway with help from pianist and composer Fats Waller.
What is far less known about these groundbreakers is that they were bound not just by their music or even the discrimination that they, like nearly all Black performers of their day, routinely encountered. Each defied and ultimately overcame racial boundaries by opening America’s eyes and souls to the magnificence of their music. In the process they wrote the soundtrack for the civil rights movement.
The Black Arts Showcase
Friday, February 20 | 6 p.m. | The Underground, Lee Hall
For the Culture will be hosting an event highlighting Black artists across the Fredericksburg area. It will feature musical performances, clothing, art, and food will be provided at the event.
Step Show (CANCELED)
Saturday, Feb. 21 | 7 p.m. | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
Join area step teams for this high-energy, entertaining competition, with a dance form that uses the entire body to resonate complex rhythmic beats and sounds. For step teams who want to participate in the Step Show event, please register today! For cost information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center.
Poetry & Jazz: Unapologetically Black at The Soul Lounge
Monday, Feb. 23 | 7 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom C, Cedric Rucker University Center
Join Women of Color for an open mic event celebrating Black creativity, resilience, and excellence through live poetry, storytelling, and jazz. Students and community members are invited to perform or enjoy the soulful atmosphere, featuring live jazz music, mocktails, and refreshments.
Black History Month: African/Mardi Gras/Caribbean Dinner
Tuesday, Feb. 24 | 5 p.m. | Dining at the Top of the CRUC, Cedric Rucker University Center
Cost with Campus Meal Plan is one meal swipe or $15.27 Flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card purchase is $17.64, plus tax.
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at (540) 654-1044 or visit students.umw.edu/multicultural. Please email us at jfmc@umw.edu if you have any questions regarding disability-related accommodations.