ALLEGANY, N.Y. — St. Bonaventure University will host a number of events to celebrate Black History Month and the theme “And Still WE Rise: Expressions of Black Heritage & Identity.”
“This year’s Black History Month programs are a direct reflection of the larger conversations that we as a society need to continue to have,” said Parker Suddeth, coordinator of the Damietta Center for Multicultural Student Affairs at the university.
“The theme for this year, ‘And Still WE Rise: Expressions of Black Heritage & Identity,’ speaks directly to mission and programmatic objectives of the Damietta Center. As a Franciscan university whose deep roots are steeped in social justice and inclusion, we believe that these events will be meaningful and transformative,” he said.
On Wednesday, Feb. 15, the university will host the panel discussion “What Black Feminism Means in the 21st Century.” The program begins at 5 p.m. in the Robert R. Jones Board of Trustees Room in Doyle Hall. It is free and open to the public.
The panelists will include Monica L. Ridgeway, Ph.D., equity and inclusion coordinator at the Education Collaborative of Western New York; Tiffany M. Nyachae, lecturer and Ph.D. candidate at the University at Buffalo; Kara Oliver, program specialist at the National Federation for Just Communities of Western New York; and Donika Kelly, Ph.D., assistant professor of English at St. Bonaventure.
On Thursday, Feb. 23, a poetry reading by Somali-American poet and teacher Ladan Osman and Donika Kelly will begin at 6 p.m. in The Loft of The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The public is invited to attend.
Osman’s poetry collection “The Kitchen Dweller’s Testimony” won the annual Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and she has received a number of fellowships. Born in Somalia and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Osman earned a BA at Otterbein College and an MFA at the University of Texas at Austin’s Michener Center for Writers. Her poetry is centered on her Somali and Muslim heritage.
Kelly, who joined the St. Bonaventure faculty last fall, was named to the 2016 National Book Award longlist for poetry. Her poetry collection “Bestiary” was selected by some of the most distinguished poets and publishers in the field through the nonprofit National Book Foundation.
The Black History Month events are sponsored by the university’s Damietta Center for Multicultural Student Affairs.
