Southeastern celebrates February Black History Month
Contact: Tonya Lowentritt
Date: January 31, 2013
HAMMOND –Student organizations and academic departments at Southeastern Louisiana University
will host a month-long slate of activities in February in celebration of Black History
Month.
Throughout the month, Southeastern's Sims Memorial Library will highlight black
history and culture with The African-American Mosaic, an exhibit that will be on display
on the third floor.
The exhibit marks the publication of "The African-American Mosaic: A Library
of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture." A noteworthy
and singular publication, the Mosaic is the first Library-wide resource guide to the
institution's African-American collections.
"Covering the nearly 500 years of the black experience in the Western hemisphere,
the Mosaic surveys the full range size, and variety of the Library of Congress' collections,
including books, periodicals, prints, photographs, music, film, and recorded sound,"
said Sims Memorial Library Director Eric Johnson. "Moreover, the African-American
Mosaic represents the start of a new kind of access to the Library's African-American
collections and the beginning of reinvigorated research and programming drawing on
these, now systematically identified, collections."
Black History Month activities are free and open to the public. The schedule
includes:
▪ Feb. 4, 7 p.m., Student Union Theatre, "The Road Less Traveled" – a three-part
student-produced skit exploring the struggles and successes of African Americans.
▪ Feb. 14-March 31, Monday-Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday: 7:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from 2 to 11 p.m., Sims Memorial Library, "Notable African
American Musicians and Black Musical Theater: A History," an exhibit on display on
the library's first floor. The library will be closed Feb. 9 – 12 for Mardi Gras.
▪ Feb. 19, 6:30 p.m., Sims Library, room 240, "America's Music: A Film History
of Our Popular Music." A brief film documentary and discussion will focus on Blues
and Gospel music.
▪ Feb. 26, 2 p.m., D Vickers, room 309, "La Negritude," a lecture by Languages
and Communication Instructor Aileen Mootoo. La Negritude was a literacy and ideological
movement led by francophone black intellectuals, writers and politicians. The founders
of La Négritude, known as les trois pères (the three fathers), were originally from
three different French colonies in Africa and the Caribbean but met while living in
Paris in the early 1930s.
▪ Feb. 27, 5 p.m., Hammond Regional Arts Center (217 E. Thomas St.), "Where's
the Swag in Graphic Design?" – a survey of African American graphic designers, as
well as currently successful African American graphic designers, who have made significant
contributions to the discipline.
A complete list of Black History Month programs is available at www.southeastern.edu/misa. For more information, call the MISA office at (985) 549-3850.
