Mayor David Roberts said Wednesday, "I think it is very important as a city to support activities that bring to light the great accomplishments that African-Americans have made to our society. I'm proud of the fact that we are able to present our city's youth with valuable lessons from positive role models."
This is the second year that the city has assembled a schedule of events to celebrate Black History Month.
The celebration's history
Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History Week" and later as "Black History Month" in 1976. The father of the original celebration was Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who was born to former slaves. According to historical records, Woodson spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at 20. He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population.
Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history.
February is packed with significant events and important anniversaries for African-Americans, from the birthday of Frederick Douglass on Feb. 14, 1817 to Malcolm X's assassination on Feb. 21, 1965 and Nelson Mandela's release from prison on Feb. 11, 1990.
Also there were the Montgomery bus boycott arrests on Feb. 22, 1956, the ratification of the 15th amendment guaranteeing that race would not prevent a man from voting, Feb. 3, 1870; the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth lunch-counter sit-in, Feb. 1, 1960; Abraham Lincoln's approval of the 13th amendment abolishing slavery, Feb. 1, 1865; and Lincoln's Birthday, Feb. 12, 1809.
City Hall exhibit
Throughout February the city will feature an exhibit at City Hall that displays worldwide and local historical information about the achievements of notable African-Americans. For the next month, vintage pictures, profiles, and works of arts will line the walls of City Hall.
Rev. Shirley Cummins, of the Go Ye Therefore Ministry, who is the curator of the exhibit, said Wednesday that it's important that the city's youth know about and understand their history. "I didn't know about the contributions that African-Americans have made until I was 50," said Cummins.
The exhibit also spotlights and profiles local black community leaders and role models who live right here in Hoboken.
Film series
On every Wednesday in February, the city is sponsoring the Black History Month Film Series at the Boys and Girls Club at 123 Jefferson St. at 7 p.m. Admission to the movies is free.
On Feb. 6 the city will be showing Finding Forrester, a film about a reclusive writer who takes on a talented black prep athlete as his protégé.
On Feb. 12, Save the Last Dance will be screened; a movie that explores high school interracial relationships when a white teen from a small rural town enrolls in a virtually all-black inner city school and falls in love with a black student.
On Feb. 18, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing combines humor, drama and music to expose the absurdity of racism by detailing a 24-hour period in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
On Feb. 26, the film series will show Men of Honor, a film that chronicles the inspirational true story of Carl Brasher, the country's first African American military dive master.
Empowerment seminar
Another event that the city has planned is the Third Annual Black Youth Empowerment Seminar. The seminar is scheduled to be held Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. at The Boys and Girls Club at 123 Jefferson St.
According to the city's Director of Human Services Carmelo Garcia, the event is an opportunity for area black role models to speak to area youths. Scheduled to speak are Cummins, Hoboken Housing Authority Executive Director E. Troy Washington, Director of HOPES Ora Welch, Hoboken High School Teacher Edward Barfield, and Hoboken High School graduate and former football star Ravon Anderson, who now works for the county.
A dramatic celebration
On Feb. 28, beginning at 7:30 p.m., the Mile Square Theater Company is scheduled to perform The Souls of Black Folk: A program of Prose, Poetry, and Drama. The event will be held at City Hall Court Room, and the suggested donation is $5, of which the proceeds will benefit the Mile Square Theater Company. For more information on the event, call (201) 420-2207.
Events at the library
The city will also be hosting a number of events at the Hoboken Public Library at 500 Park Ave. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the library will hold an event called Storytime from Children: Folktales from Africa.
The library is also planning to hold a poetry reading celebrating African American History, but the time and date for that event has not yet been announced. For more information contact the library at (201) 420-2280.
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