NIU’s Center for Black Studies has scheduled a variety of events in celebration of Black Heritage Month, with the theme “A New Age of Resistance: Respecting Our History, Defining Our Future.”
Throughout the month of February, the NIU community will celebrate the many important contributions of African-Americans during Black Heritage Month.
The opening ceremony, featuring the Nunufatima Dance Company, begins at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium. Wear the color red that day to symbolize the blood of our ancestors and to focus attention on heart disease, one of the leading causes of death among African Americans.
Here’s a look at the full slate of events, which are free and open to the public.
- Feb. 1: American Heart Month; Wear Red Day and Opening Ceremony at 6 p.m., Carl Sandburg Auditorium
- Feb. 2: Black Male Initiative sponsors a blood drive at 11 a.m., Chick Evans Fieldhouse
- Feb. 3: Phi Rho Eta “Modern Day Sambo Effect” at 7 p.m., HSC-Heritage Room
- Feb. 4: Zeta Phi Beta “Back to Our Roots” at 7:20 p.m., HSC-Heritage Room
- Feb. 5: Iota Phi Theta Speed Dating at 5 p.m., Stevenson – Multipurpose Room
- Feb. 9: John Henrik Clark Image Awards at 6 p.m., Duke Ellington Ballroom
- Feb. 10: B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S. “Tribute to Black Women” at 7 p.m., Duke Ellington Ballroom
- Feb. 11: Delta Sigma Theta “Police Accountability” at 7 p.m., HSC-University Suite
- Feb. 13: Black Male Initiative Dodgeball Tournament from 7 to 10 p.m., Chick Evans Fieldhouse
- Feb. 14: “Spreading the Love: A Day of Reflection and Memory.” Forward, together, forward.
- Feb. 15: Gender and Sexuality Resource Center “Examining Black Lives Matter” at 5:30 p.m., HSC-Illinois Room
- Feb. 17: Black Male Initiative “Male Forgiveness” event at 7 p.m., Stevenson – Multipurpose Room
- Feb. 18: Gender and Sexuality Resource Center “Honoring Audre Lourde,” at 11 a.m. at the center
- Feb. 19: Phi Beta Sigma “Reaching the unreached” at 7:14 p.m. at HSC Illinois Room; African Student Alliance “Dance for Africa” at 7 p.m., Carl Sandburg Auditorium
- Feb. 20: Black Student Union “Mr. and Ms. BSU Pageant” at 7 p.m., Carl Sandburg Auditorium
- Feb. 22: National Society of Black Engineers “Entrepreneurship Institute Part One” at 6 p.m., HSC-Lincoln Room
- Feb. 23: National Society of Black Engineers “Entrepreneurship Institute Part Two” at 6 p.m., HSC-Lincoln Room
- Feb. 24: O.B.E.A. Women “Honoring our Legacy before Slavery” at 1:30 p.m., Glass Lounge; Alpha Kappa Alpha “Pink Goes Red” at 7 p.m., Recreation Building
- Feb. 25: Black Counseling Association “Black Minds Matter” at 5 p.m., HSC-Room 506; Sigma Gamma Rho “My Black is Beautiful” at 7:22 p.m., HSC-Room 505
- Feb. 26: Phi Beta Sigma “Frat Attack” at 7:30 p.m., Carl Sandburg Auditorium
- Feb. 29: Zeta Phi Beta “Soul Bowl Banquet,” at 6:20 p.m., New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.
For more information, call (815) 753-1709 or email CenterBlackStudies@niu.edu.
