Opening Day Remarks
The Launching of the Student Sit-in Movement: The Role of Black Women at Bennett College
Monday, February 1, 2021, 2 PM
Moderator: Zaire Couloute
Guest Speaker: Dr. Deidre Flowers, Substitute Assistant Professor and Interim Director for Africana Studies

Deidre B. Flowers’ work centers on twentieth century women in education with a focus on African American women’s higher education experience. She earned her PhD in History from Columbia University.


Revisiting The Haitian Revolution in the Era of Black Lives Matter in the United States
Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 3 PM-4 PM EST
Guest Speaker: Francois Pierre-Louis
Co-Sponsors: School of Social Sciences, BLFSA
Moderator: Shonelle George

François Pierre-Louis is professor of political science at Queens College, CUNY. His research interests include immigration, transnationalism, and Haitian and Caribbean politics. He served in the private cabinet of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991 and on the senior staff of Prime Minister Jacques-Édouard Alexis in 2007-2008. He is the co-editor of Immigrant Crossroads: Globalization, Incorporation, and Placemaking in Queens, New York (2021) and author of Haitians in New York City: Transnationalism and Hometown Association (2006).


Grassroots Youth Activism as a Bridge to Elected Office
Friday, February 5, 2021, 10 AM EST-11 AM EST
Guest Speaker: Assemblyman - NY (D) Khaleel Anderson
Moderator: Simone Yearwood
Co-Sponsors: SEEK, BLFSA

Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson, the youngest Black assembly member in New York State history, was elected to serve Assembly District 31 in Queens in November 2020. Anderson was the youngest member of Queens Community Board 14 and his local Police Precinct Council during his tenure. Anderson’s hard work, leadership and dedication to his community has earned him recognition from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Congressman Gregory Meeks and other state and local elected officials. Assembly Member Anderson is a leading voice in addressing issues of food insecurity, disaster preparedness, housing, transportation and healthcare planning in Assembly District 31.

The Connect: Supporting Black Students with Resources for Survival and Beyond
Monday, February 8, 2021, 12:15 PM EST-1:30 PM EST
Guest Speakers: Aysa Gray and Valerie Hannibal
Sponsor: CERRU


The Real Ambassadors in Concert - Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of this classic album at the homes of Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck
Tuesday, February 9, 1 PM EST
Sponsor: Louis Armstrong House Museum

The Real Ambassadors, was written by Dave and Iola Brubeck all about how Louis Armstrong was America’s first Cultural Ambassador for the United States. This jazz musical addressed racism in America, the music business, and the power of music to bring us all together. Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Real Ambassadors album, this full concert is co-presented by the Louis Armstrong House Museum and the Forum for Cultural Engagement through the U.S. Embassy of Moscow. Open to the public and presented on the Louis Armstong House


Resistance and Rebellion, the importance of Decolonizing our History
Tuesday, February 9, 2021, 5 PM EST
Guest Speaker: Fiona Compton, Activist
Introduction: Soribel Genao
Co-Sponsors: Queens College Foundation and Office of the Provost

Over the past 13 years Fiona’s work has explored the various disparities in representation of the Afro Caribbean diaspora within art and mainstream media. Much of her work surrounds self-empowerment, identity and challenging representation. In 2017 she launched her multi-disciplinary project “The Revolution of the Fairytale” which celebrates lesser known heroes from Black history under the nostalgic platform of well-known fairytales. Her films have been screened across the globe including in the UK Cabinet office; and have won several awards including best documentary and best director in Caribbean film and fashion awards.


Lorgia Garcia Peña: "Black Latinidad: From Arthur Schomburg to Cardi B" Wednesday, February 10, 12:15 PM EST
Register here

Prof. García Peña is the author of The Borders of Dominicanidad: Race, Nations and Archives of Contradictions (Duke University Press, 2016) a study of the impact of stories — historical and fictional — on the national and racial identity of a people. Offering the Dominican experience as case study, this book shows how the stories of a nation create marginality through acts of exclusion. The Borders of Dominicanidad is the winner of the 2017 National Women’s Studies Association Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize, the 2016 LASA Latino/a Studies Book Award, and the 2016 Isis Duarte Book Prize in Haiti and Dominican Studies.


Black Women in Tech: Leading A Bold Life
Wednesday, February 10, 2021, 5 PM EST-6 PM EST
Guest Speaker: Suezette Yasmin Robotham
Introduction: Soribel Genao
Presented by: School of Math & Natural Science
Co-Sponsors: Queens College Foundation and Office of the Provost

Suezette Yasmin Robotham is a DEI practitioner, speaker, connector, coach, and a leading Black woman in tech. She has more than a decade of leadership experience with expertise in talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion initiatives, leadership development, strategic planning and relationship building across various industry sectors. Suezette is also a TNJ 40 Under Forty 2019 honoree. An alumna of the University of Florida and the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, Suezette currently lives, works, and plays in Brooklyn.


David Rivera, PhD and Ruth Jean-Marie
Mental Health & The Black Community
Thursday, February 11, 2021, 4 PM EST-6 PM EST
Presented by: School of Education
Moderator: Allyson Regis
Co-Sponsors: Queens College Foundation and Office of the Provost

Dr. David P. Rivera is an associate professor of counselor education at Queens College. He holds degrees from Columbia University Teachers College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Wyoming. A counseling psychologist by training, his professional experience includes college counseling and higher education administration. His practical work also includes consultations and training on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. Dr. Rivera has worked at a variety of institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, the New School University, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and the Addiction Institute of New York.

Ruth Jean-Marie, Founder and Executive Director of The August Project (TAP)

Ruth Jean-Marie is the Founder and Executive Director of The August Project (TAP) , an organization that consults with individuals, organizations and governments on how to do good, better. TAP has worked with Nike, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Haitian American Caucus and is currently working with Hope for Haiti. Founder, Ruth Jean-Marie was recently named an American Express Founder of Change and The August Project has been published in over one dozen publications.


NABA PAST AND PRESENT: A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Thursday, February 11, 2021, 6:30 PM EST
Moderator: Andre Benjamin
Register here

Book Talk: Class, Race, Culture and Resistance in 1960s Jamaica
Tuesday, February 16, 6 PM EST
Guest Speaker: Andrene Bonner
Moderator: Carol Douglas
Presented by: School of Social Sciences
Co-Sponsors: Queens College Foundation and Office of the Provost

Andrene Bonner is an educator, playwright and author of four non-fiction books about student resilience and the parent-teacher partnership. No Life in Olympic Gardens and Long Walk to Cherry Gardens, the first two in her literary fiction series, tell the story of a boy’s heartrending search for identity and education. She is a Westchester Black Scholars Motivating Teacher of the Year and founder of Literacy Gateway Institute, an educational solutions business. She trains parents to become co-teachers and develops literacy curricula and wellness tools. The audience can access the specially discounted eBooks ahead of time or during the event here. Discussion questions can be sent in advance to lgiforsuccess@gmail.com


We Want To Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching Network
Wednesday, February 17, 2021, 12:00 PM EST-1:30 PM EST
Guest Speaker: Dr. Bettina Love
Moderator: Limarys Caraballo
Presented by: School of Education
Co-Sponsors: Queens College Foundation and Office of the Provost

Dr. Bettina L. Love is an award-winning author and the Athletic Association endowed professor at the University of Georgia. She is one of the field’s most esteemed educational researchers. Her writing, research, teaching, and educational advocacy meet at the intersection of education, abolition, and black joy. Dr. Love is concerned with how educators working with parents and communities can build communal, civically engaged schools rooted in abolitionist teaching with the goal of intersectional social justice for equitable classrooms that love and affirm Black and Brown children. In 2020, Dr. Love co-founded the Abolitionist Teaching Network (ATN). ATN’s mission is simple: develop and support teachers and parents to fight injustice within their schools and communities.
Register here


Spoken Word
Thursday, February 18, 2021, 12 PM EST


Hip Hop Performance & Workshop
Thursday, February 18, 2021, 4 PM EST
Facilitator: Mikal Amin Lee
Moderator: Limarys Caraballo
Presented by: School of Education
Co-Sponsors: Queens College Foundation and Office of the Provost

An established Hip-Hop emcee for the last twenty years and a cultivator of the culture, Mikal is the producer and co-curator of the highly popular “Word. Sound. Power.” The Brooklyn Academy of Music's Hip Hop/Spoken Word performance. Also a scholar and essayist his publishing credits include the journal “Word Beats & Life”, The Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies and St. James Encyclopedia for Hip-Hop Culture.


Jazz in the Black
Friday, February 19, 2021, 2 PM EST
Guest Speakers: Antonio Hart & Dorothaan Kirk
Introduction & Moderator: Xavier Deshields
Presented by: Aaron Copland School of Music
Co-Sponsors: Queens College Foundation and Office of the Provost

Antonio Hart, Director of Jazz Studies at QC’s Aaron Copland School of Music
Antonio Hart is the Director of Jazz Studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music and a world renown jazz alto saxophonist. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, studied with Andy McGhee at Berklee College of Music, and has a master's degree from Queens College. Through the course of his career, he has played in bands with some true masters in Jazz: The Duke Ellington Big Band, The Mingus Big Band, The Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, The Arturo O'Farrell Big Band, The Gerald Wilson Big Band, and the two-time Grammy winning Dave Holland Big Band.

Dorthaan Kirk, Jazz Advocate
Dorthaan Kirk has been a major force at WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM, Newark Public Radio--the only full-time jazz format station in New York and New Jersey--working in various roles for more than four decades. Called "Newark's First Lady of Jazz," Kirk has been active as a curator and producer of jazz events primarily in and around Newark, NJ, and is an avid supporter of musicians and jazz education for children. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her community-based initiatives in the arts. In 2013, she received the Humanitarian Award from the American Conference on Diversity, Essex County Chapter. For her 80th birthday in 2018, the Dorthaan Kirk Scholarship Opportunity Fund was created to support jazz students in the Newark area.


A Musical Journey through Queens: The Music of Haiti, featuring Pauline Jean with Richard Duroseau and Mario De Volcy
Saturday, February 20, 2021 3 PM EST
Presented by: Kupferberg Center for the Arts
Join here

Acclaimed Haitian-American vocalist Pauline Jean along with two legends of Haitian music, accordion master Richard Duroseau and percussionist Mario De Volcy, will take you on a musical journey celebrating the diverse cultural heritage of Haiti, which is closely linked to the African diaspora. The music and culture of the Haitian people has been an essential part of Queens life and this once-in-a-lifetime collaboration will bring stars from three generations together to celebrate and uplift these contributions.

“The Hellenic Revolution and its Effects on the American Abolitionist Movement ” Panel Discussion Webinar
Sunday, February 21, 2021, 2 PM EST
Presented in Association with the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and AHEPA's Hellenic Cultural Commission
Panelists: Nicholas Alexiou, Dan Georgakas, and Herb Boyd
Moderator: Lou Katsos-EMBCA President/Founder
Join here

The panel for this unique event will be introduced and moderated by Lou Katsos, EMBCA's President/Founder and who will be part of the panel. The distinguished panel will include Author/Poet Nicholas Alexiou, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Hellenic American Project at Queens College, Author/Historian/Poet/Editor/Activist Dan Georgakas the Director of the Greek American Studies Project at the Center for Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies at Queens College, and Author/Historian/Activist Herb Boyd, Professor of the Black Studies Program at the City College of New York, CUNY.​


Black History Game Show
Monday, February 22, 2021, 6 PM EST
Presented by The Student Life Office
Co-Sponsor: BLFSA

Gather and get competitive! Winners will receive Amazon gift cards


In the Virtual Footsteps of Dr. King 2021
Monday, February 22, 2021, 12 PM EST
Opening Remarks & Introductions: Rabbi Moshe Shur, Associate Provost Eva Fernandez, Sayashmini Madhow
Join here

In the Virtual Footsteps of Dr. King 2021 offers a unique opportunity for students to travel to major sites of the civil rights movement. Students learn under the direction of educators who worked with the great civil rights through the historic landscape of the movement. This year, we will be walking In the Virtual Footsteps of Dr. King and the Civil Right movement. By joining this event you will witness the virtual reenactment of the program going through Atlanta, GA, Selma, Montgomery, Tuskegee and Birmingham, AL. Faculty, staff, student alumni and special guest speakers will share their experience and reflection with the community at large. Additionally, we will share an overview of a new Queens Community 101 (QNS 101) course that was created based on the Footsteps program and is being taught this Spring 2021 semester as well as next Fall. We hope to continue this unique experiential educational initiative in the near future.


Black STEM Professionals Panel
Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 11 AM EST
Presented by: HSI-STEM & MARC
Open to the public with prior registration here

The HSI-STEM team and MARC have teamed up to highlight the stories of Black and African-American members of our STEM community at QC and QCC.


"Where Do We Go From Here?"
Mental Health for CUNY BIPOC’s in Times of Crisis
Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 5 PM EST-6 PM EST
Presenter: Maureen Pierce-Anyan
Introduction & Moderator: Allyson Regis

Maureen Pierce-Anyan has a Master in Philosophy in Psychology and has worked at Queens college for over 25 years. During that period, she has been an adjunct in the Africana Studies Program where she taught The Black Family and The Social Psychology of The Black Community; directed the Department of Education’s Teacher Opportunity Corps Program, a program designed to produce high quality and committed teachers of color by providing them with a comprehensive set of supports. Presently, serves as the Director of Minority Student Affairs & Pre-Professional Advisor. Her counseling activities include the creation of a unisex support groups for Black Males and Black Females. For decades she served as the group's facilitator, in which many members of these groups are still in communication. Drawing on her training as an evaluator, she wrote a comprehensive report on "The Black Presence at Queens College" (2016) and "A Closing Door? Black Admissions at Queens College" (2018) published in the PSC Clarion. In 2019 she testified before The CUNY Board of Trustees about the shrinkage of the Black student populations in the SEEK Programs and the impoverishment of the Black Studies Program within CUNY. In 2015 she received the Outstanding Non-Instructional Staff award from the College. She is a member of The CUNY Black Faculty and Staff Association as well as the QC Black and Latinx Faculty and Staff Association.


What's Good, UBUNTU?! Check-in
Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 12:15 PM EST-1:30 PM EST
Presenters: Aysa Gray & Valerie Hannibal
Presented by: CERRU & BLFSA
Join here

What's Good? We know you're counting down to graduation. This workshop will provide Black students with useful tools to help you successfully make it out. And because we know zoom social life can have you looking like the Bernie Sanders meme, cold and lonely, we want to provide a space to conversate and vibe with other students.


Literature to Life’s “Black Boy” by Richard Wright
Thursday, February 25, 2021, 11:30 AM EST
Join here

Literature to Life presents professionally staged adaptations of award-winning literary works performed by a single actor. Black Boy is a powerful account of one young man's journey from innocence to experience as a black youth living in the Jim Crow South. A tour de force, the actor plays upwards of fifteen characters from Richard Wright's past. This special abridged performance will be accompanied by discussion that encourages students to engage in self-reflection and discovery. Discussions are facilitated by LTL Teaching Artists who are experts in the literature and in applying dynamic theatre techniques that activate students’ engagement with the story.


Sociodramas: Popular Theater For Social Justice
Thursday, February 25, 2021, 3 PM EST-4 PM EST
Guest Speaker: Sandy Placido, PhD
Moderator: Carol Douglas

Sandy Plácido is an assistant professor in the History Department at Queens College, and also the inaugural Dominican Studies Scholar at the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. She has a long-standing interest in the history and culture of the circum-Caribbean, the development of political solidarities between Black communities across the African diaspora, audiovisual documentation, popular education, and archival development. Plácido received her PhD in American Studies from Harvard University, and she has published writing in venues such as Feminist Formations, The Washington Post, Latinx Talk, and Black Perspectives.


SEEK History of Activism and Dissent in Diversifying CUNY: What's Next for Special Programs?
Thursday, February 25, 2021, 5 PM EST-6 PM EST


Celebration of LGBTQIA in Black Communities
Friday, February 26, 2021, 12 PM EST
Speaker: Jay-Marie Hill

Jay-Marie Hill (they/them), taken lover of the aforementioned, is a commitment to the work of big-upping Black women and Black trans folks in all their inherently deserving glory. Oakland-lost and Midwest-found, Jay-Marie is a musician, writer, facilitator, and queer Auntie.Whether performing Holy protest music, managing New York Times Bestseller's book tours; leading the Black Trans Bike Experience; or running a mutual aid Fund for 'Sweet And' Missourians; Jay-Marie is a multi-hyphenate strategist and artist who shows no signs of stopping.Their latest passions include building a Black-led, statewide Trans resistance effort at the ACLU of Missouri - including co-founding a statewide coalition to decriminalize sex work in Kansas City and St. Louis - and teaching Black youth about Bikes as Freedom Tools in South St. Louis City. Look out for their 1st solo studio album as Jay-MarieisHoly, coming in late 2021.


NYC Men Teach: A Hip Hop Cypher featuring Nikki Giovanni
Friday, February 26, 2021, 6 PM EST-7 PM EST
Moderator: Nathaniel Smith
Co-Sponsor: BLFSA
All attendees must RSVP here

Students and lovers of Hip-Hop and poetry are welcome to perform