Black History Month to feature guest performers, trivia, movie screenings

Northwest Missouri State University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion will celebrate Black History Month by hosting guest performers, a trivia night, and movie nights featuring an African-American horror film.

“It’s about getting an opportunity to learn about a culture that’s not like your own,” Latonya Harrison, a coordinator of diversity and inclusion at Northwest, said. “It’s an opportunity to experience a different culture in a way students can relate and learn things that they might not have known or understood.”

Black History Month was founded as Negro History Week in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson with the goal of educating Blacks about their cultural background and instilling a sense of pride in their race. Since 1976, Black History Month has been celebrated annually in the United States.

All of the month’s activities at Northwest are free and open to the public.

Northwest begins its celebration by hosting a “Black History Month Edition” of its First Friday series from noon to 1 pm, Friday, February 7 in the office of diversity and inclusion in the Student Engagement Center at the JW Jones Student Union. The office hosts First Friday events during the first Friday of each month, enabling students to participate in fun activities and build a sense of community on the Northwest campus.

Northwest’s Black History Month celebration continues with a performance by the Kotchegna Dance Company, sponsored in collaboration with the department of fine and performing arts, at 6 pm, Wednesday, February 12, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. Performing in elaborate masks to the explosive percussion of a corps of brilliant drummers, Kotchegna Dance Company brings to life the ancient stories and legends of Africa’s Ivory Coast.

The university will also host Black History Month Trivia at 6 pm, Thursday, February 20, in the Student Union Ballroom. Participants will test their knowledge in categories including cinema and music and prizes will be awarded.

The Black History Month activities conclude at 6 pm, Wednesday, February 26, in the Student Union Living Room with a showing of “Friday.”

Additionally, through a collaboration with Chase O’Gwin, an associate professor of psychology at Northwest, and his psych of film course to offer movie screenings of two different versions of “CandyMan” a supernatural African American horror film. Both will be screened at 2 pm, Tuesday, February 25 in Colden Hall Room 3500.