Virtual, live events happening throughout region for Black History Month
Blood Brothers
The documentary “Blood Brothers,” about the friendship between Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, is being screened by the Senator John Heinz History Center as part of Black History Month. Courtesy of Netflix.
Magician Eric Jones will be at Liberty Magic in downtown Pittsburgh through February. Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
Eric Jones
The Senator John Heinz History Center is presenting a lecture by Dr. Gloria J. Browne Marshall, an author and professor of constitutional law, as part of Black History Month. Courtesy of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Stephen Towns
On the cover: Work by painter Stephen Towns is on display at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg. Courtesy of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
“The Pioneer,” which depicts a coal miner, is one of the works by Baltimore artist Stephen Towns on display at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Courtesy of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
Courtesy of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art
“The Pioneer,” which depicts a coal miner, is one of the works by Baltimore artist Stephen Towns on display at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Courtesy of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
“The Pioneer,” which depicts a coal miner, is one of the works by Baltimore artist Stephen Towns on display at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Courtesy of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
Dr. Anthony Todd Carlisle
Dr. Anthony Todd Carlisle
Carlisle
February is Black History Month, and organizations throughout the region are presenting in-person and virtual events to mark the occasion.
The Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh has a virtual lecture on tap. On Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m., Dr. Gloria J. Browne-Marshall will discuss her book “She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law and Power,” which explores the lives of various Black women from 1619 to 1969 and how they sought justice. Browne-Marshall is a constitutional law professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York, and is also a civil rights attorney who has litigated cases for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama and Community Legal Services in Philadelphia.
Then, on Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m., a virtual screening of the 2021 documentary “Blood Brothers: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali” is planned.
Admission is free for both events, but advance registration is required. More information is available at heinzhistory.org/events.
The History Center is also planning Black History Month programs for teachers and students. History Center educators will offer free programs focusing on the history and legacy of Pittsburgh’s Freedom House Ambulance Service. Free webinars are planned Feb. 17 and 24. More information is available at heinzhistorycenter.org.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is booking several events with Black artists in February to shine a spotlight on their work. On Saturday at 4 p.m., an Afro-Caribbean dance workshop will explore Haitian, Soca and Samba dance styles. Starting this weekend, the Harris Theater is presenting the film “The Sleeping Negro,” a 2021 drama about a young Black man attempting to rise above alienation and rage after enduring several racially-charged incidents. There are various showtimes between now and Feb. 17.
On Friday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m., the former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker will be at the Benedum Center. Through the end of February, Liberty Magic artistic adviser and magician Eric Jones is undertaking his third residency at the venue with “Immaculate Deception.” Jazz musician Dwayne Dolphin is set to appear the Cultural Trust’s Backstage Bar at 5 p.m. Feb. 22.
The work of acclaimed Pittsburgh photographer is being showcased by the City of Pittsburgh throughout the month with “Teenie Harris: The Man Behind the Lens.” It’s an online photo gallery and display in the City-County Building that includes 50 key works from Harris’ prolific career. The exhibit has been assembled with the assistance of the Carnegie Museum of Art, which holds the photographer’s archive.
The combined campuses of California University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro University and Clarion University have been having several events to mark Black History Month. Anthony Carlisle, an associate professor of culture, media and performance at Cal U, will be reading from his novel “The Souls of Clayhatchee: A Southern Tale” Monday at 6 p.m. over Zoom. On Wednesday, an online discussion, “Professors of Color in the Ivory Tower” is scheduled. Then, on Feb. 23, a “lunch and learn” session focusing on the history of soul food will be in Cal U’s Gold Rush Dining Hall starting at 10:30 a.m.
An exhibit of work by Black painter Stephen Towns will be at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg through May 8. “Stephen Towns: Declaration and Resistance” looks at the American Dream through the lives of Black Americans and uses labor as a backdrop. Towns was born in 1980 in South Carolina and lives in Baltimore. His work is in many private collections and has been displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and the Nelson Atkins Museum in St. Louis.