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Black History Month has begun, and there are numerous events happening in Central Arkansas to help Arkansans learn about and celebrate the past, present and future of Black Americans.
Black History Month Grab-and-Go Teen Crafts
Feb. 3-5, 10-12 at Thompson Library, 38 Rahling Circle, Little Rock.
The Central Arkansas Library System is providing crafts for teens to complete at home this month that celebrate two Black icons from American history: artist Alma Woodsey Thomas and astronaut Mae Jemison.
https://cals.org/event/bhm-grab-and-go-teen-craft-the-art-of-alma-woodsey-thomas
https://cals.org/event/bhm-grab-and-go-teen-craft-dr-mae-jemison-nasa-origami-starshade
Chat & Chew: History on Your Plate – Adaja Cooper
Noon Feb. 11, hybrid virtual and in-person at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. 9th St., Little Rock.
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center will host Black artist Adaja Cooper to discuss her process and influences.
Bridge Builder: U.S. Civil Rights Then and Now
10 a.m. Feb. 15, streamed online
The Clinton Foundation will host a panel discussion on the past and present of civil rights in the United States. Speakers will include the director of Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the principal of Little Rock’s Central High School.
Perspectives in History: The Sum of All Reckonings
7 p.m. Feb. 17 on Zoom
This event, sponsored by the Arkansas State House Society and the Old State House Museum, will consider what we know and what we don’t about Arkansas’ African American heritage.
Black History Month Town Hall
1 p.m. Feb. 19 at Southwest Community Center, 6401 Baseline Road, Little Rock.
The Reform Alliance has organized a town hall that will feature Edmond Davis, a teacher, author and actor; Tim Campbell, who serves on local criminal justice and diversity commissions; and Denisha Merriweather, director of public relations and content marketing at the American Federation for Children and founder of Black Minds Matter.
The Clinton, Mississippi, Massacre of 1875: Arkansas Governor Charles Hillman Brough and His Role in Creating the Myth of the “Clinton Riot”
6:30 p.m. Feb. 21 on Zoom
Melissa Janczewski Jones will speak at this event, hosted by the Central Arkansas Library System, about how an Arknasas governor helped establish a false narrative of an 1875 massacre that resulted in the deaths of dozens of recently emancipated Black Mississippians.
https://cals.org/event/melissa-jones?mc_cid=1fdec9dc58&mc_eid=035f0af977
Brown Bag Lunch Lecture: African American Legislators at the Old State House Museum
Noon Feb. 24 on Zoom
This event will center on the period after Reconstruction, when Arkansas had the greatest number of Black legislators in its history. It will discuss their contributions and their motivations to serve, as well as eventually depart.
https://www.facebook.com/events/3035758836742175/
Chat & Chew: History on Your Plate – Becoming Wiley Jones
Noon Feb. 25, streamed on Facebook
Wiley Jones was born enslaved and died one of the wealthiest Black men in the country. His story will be the center of this event.
Black History Month Performance
4 p.m. Feb. 27, streamed online
Parkview High School drama, choir, and orchestra students will perform in this event, hosted by the Clinton Foundation.
https://forms.clinton-foundation.org/view.php?id=763916
Black Geographies: Little Rock
6:30 p.m. Feb. 28 on Zoom
Tanisha Joe-Conway, who produced and made a documentary about Little Rock’s lost West Ninth Street community, and Angel Burt, executive director of the Dunbar Historic Neighborhood Association, will join Arkansas historian Airic Hughes for a discussion on the “development, displacement, and determination” of Black communities in Little Rock.