2024 Black History Month Celebration – February 2024
For centuries, African Americans have used the arts as a powerful medium for cultural expression, community resonance, and social critique. Each generation, within the African diaspora spanning from the Harlem Renaissance to present day, has transformed the globe through their numerous contributions in literature, fashion, film, theater, music, architecture, and language. Join the James Farmer Multicultural Center’s celebration and recognition of these memorable stories.
Black History Month Kick-Off Lunch: Southern Soul Food Lunch
Thursday, Feb. 1 | 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 $9.80 Flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card purchase is $14.66 plus tax.
Decks and Decades
Friday, Feb. 2 | 6 p.m. | Digital Auditorium, Hurley Convergence Center
Join For the Culture for a fashion show that will showcase a fusion of Black cultural fashion from the 1970s to present day and a spades tournament afterward.
Gospelfest
Saturday, Feb. 3 | 3 p.m. | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
Join gospel choirs and praise dance teams as they engage in spiritual song and dance.
Black History Month Major Speakers: Junior Marvin, Manny Kellough, and Bill McGee
Wednesday, Feb. 7 | 7 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom C, Cedric Rucker University Center
In recognition of the national theme for Black History Month, three legendary musicians: Junior Marvin from Bob Marley & the Wailers, Manny Kellough from Billy Preston’s God Squad, and Bill McGee, will be participating in a discussion on the global and cultural impact of Black music, how their prominent careers have played a role in uplifting the cultural traditions of the past, and the reasons why the music they have created remains relevant in today’s arts scene.
Black History Month: Caribbean Dinner
Thursday, Feb. 8 | 5 p.m. | Dining at the Top of the CRUC, Cedric Rucker University Center
Cost with Campus Meal Plan is one meal swipe or $14.10 Flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card purchase is $15.20 plus tax. $7 for faculty/staff.
Great Lives Series: Mary Lumpkin
Thursday, Feb. 8 | 7:30 p.m. | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
Born in Virginia in 1832, Mary Lumpkin lived much of her young life in a slave jail in Richmond known as Lumpkin’s Jail, where she was forced to have the children of her enslaver, the slave jail owner Robert Lumpkin. She worked with resilience and determination to educate and free her children, who were
born enslaved, sending her daughters to school in Massachusetts and buying a home for them in Philadelphia, where she and the children lived for the duration of the Civil War. At Robert Lumpkin’s death a year after the war’s end, he left Mary Lumpkin his property, including the jail, known by enslaved people as the Devil’s Half Acre. She rented it to a Baptist missionary who converted it into a school for freed Black men. It later became Virginia Union University, one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America, which still exists today. Mary Lumpkin’s story is one of many enslaved women whose stories have been all but erased from the American narrative.
Colors of Africa
Saturday, Feb. 10 | 5 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom, Cedric Rucker University Center
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: Cajun/Mardi Gras Lunch
Tuesday, Feb. 13 | 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 $9.80 Flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card purchase is $14.66 plus tax. $7 for faculty/staff.
Screaming Queens Documentary
Tuesday, Feb. 13 | 6 p.m. | Lee Hall, Room 411
This documentary focuses on transgender women and drag queens who fought police harassment at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco in 1966, three years before the famous riot at Stonewall in New York City.
Jazz Ensemble Black History Tribute: Iconic Jazz Greats
Friday, Feb. 16 | 7:30 p.m. | The Underground, Lee Hall
Celebrate Black History Month with the UMW Jazz Ensemble! Doug Gately, a senior lecturer in the Department of Music, directs this concert featuring music from iconic jazz artists.
Black Excellence Gala (POSTPONED)
TBD
The Black Excellence Gala is an event to celebrate young, Black excellence on campus. This event will be feature music, refreshments, and awards. There will be an award ceremony to provide tangible expression of gratitude to Black leaders at UMW. This event is for all UMW students to attend and enjoy.
Bail Out Bake Sale
Tuesday, Feb. 20 | 1 p.m. | Campus Walk
The UMW NAACP College Chapter will be selling baked goods and donating the proceeds to Fail Safe-ERA to aid the many marginalized individuals who are returning home from incarceration.
The History of Sampling Records in Hip-Hop
Tuesday, Feb. 20 | 6 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom C, University Center
This interactive presentation will be led by Ronald Turner II, known as DJ R-Tistic. He will take the audience on an oral and visual tour of the history of sampling classic R&B, soul, funk, and jazz records, which laid the foundation for the creation of hip-hop, and how the usage of sampling continues to thrive in today’s musical landscape.
Drippin’ in Finesse: From the 80s to 00s Dance Session
Thursday, Feb. 22 | 5 p.m. | Colonnade Room, Cedric Rucker University Center
This dance session will explore iconic hip-hop moves and dance crazes from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. The instructor will lead participants through some moves and then compile them into a fun, easy combination towards the end. Participants are welcome to dress in throwback wear from those decades and eras.
Black History Month: African Dinner
Thursday, February 22 | 5 p.m. | Dining at the Top of the CRUC, Cedric Rucker University Center
Cost with Campus Meal Plan is one meal swipe or $14.10 Flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card purchase is $15.20 plus tax. $7 for faculty/staff.
Step Show
Saturday, Feb. 24 | 7 p.m. | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
Join area step teams from high schools, regional colleges and universities as they engage in a high-energy, entertaining competition. For cost information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center.
TICKET SALES
Day of Step Show
UMW IDs: $5 at the door
Greek Organization Members: $5 at the door
General Public: $10 at the door (Note: Debit/Credit Cards Not Accepted)
Methods of Payment: Cash, Eagle One Card, Cash App, Pay Pal, Venmo, or Zelle
Advanced tickets sales
Advanced tickets sales will be available from Feb. 20 – Feb. 22 only.
The tickets costs are:
UMW IDs: $3 (Limit 4)
General Public: $8
You may purchase them in the 2nd floor lobby of the Cedric Rucker University Center. Sales will take place each day from:
Tuesday, Feb. 20th 2-4 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 21st 3-6 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 22nd 2-5 p.m.
Methods of Payment: Cash, Eagle One Card, Cash App, Pay Pal, Venmo, or Zelle
Group ticket sales
Group ticket sales will be available beginning Wednesday, February 14. The last day for group ticket sales Wednesday, February 21.
These sales must have at least 10 tickets at $5 per ticket. You must purchase these tickets on campus at the James Farmer Multicultural Center from 9 am –4 pm. The JFMC is located in the University Center, room 319.
Method of Payment: Cash or Money Order Only
Great Lives Series: Martin Luther King Jr.
Tuesday, Feb. 27 | 7:30 p.m. | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
In hallowing Martin Luther King Jr., we have hollowed him. We have replaced his radical vision for justice with a romantic image of a man who stands for little more than love and peace. For the past seven years, Jonathan Eig has traveled across the country, meeting the people who knew King personally, recording their stories, and learning about the real MLK — the complicated one, the flawed one, the radical one, the one we really need in today’s bitter, divided world. If we listen to the real King, he can still teach us: –Yes, it’s possible to be a radical and win the support of the mainstream and the political establishment. –A flawed man can live his by the high moral standards and devote himself to the common good. –It is possible to engage in dialogue (and even love) our enemies. –Income inequality is not a requirement of capitalism. Though we live in an age cynicism, of division, King believed we would get to the Promised Land. If we listen to his words, if we embrace his message, and if we accept his contradictions, we might get there yet.
Black History Month: Special Event Wrap Up Dinner
Thursday, Feb. 29 | 5 p.m. | Dining at the Top of the CRUC, Cedric Rucker University Center
Cost with Campus Meal Plan is one meal swipe or $14.10 Flex. The cost for EagleOne or credit card purchase is $15.20 plus tax.
For more information, contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at 540/654-1044 or umwjfmc@gmail.com. Visit students.umw.edu/multicultural.
Please email us at umwjfmc@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding disability-related accommodations.