Black History events stack up

A number of events that celebrate and examine the Black experience are planned throughout the month of February in honor of Black History Month.

A temporary display, Booker T Washington Visits Grand Rapids, showcases recently discovered magic lantern slides. Featured are 69 photographs of The Tuskegee Institute, now referred to as Tuskegee University.

The rare slides will be displayed along with period photography equipment during the month of February in the Streets of Old Grand Rapids, inside the central window of the Voigt Herpolsheimer Co. section of the exhibit on view at the Grand Rapids Public Museum throughout the month of February.

At Wealthy Theatre

From Blocks 2 Boardrooms Presents: The Commemoration of Malcolm X
Wednesday February 21, 7 p.m.
From Blocks 2 Boardrooms “The Block Model” is a faith-based initiative aimed to enlighten youth and young adults on the path of faith, family, and funds. The gathering will commemorate Malcom X (who later changed his name to El-Hajj Malik Shabaazz after converting to Islam) on the anniversary of his death. He died on Feb. 21, 1965 at the age of 39. The evening will include speakers, performers, and networking and a Q&A session.

“BLACK MAN” Screening & Discussion
Monday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.
Join GRMiFi and NIA Centre for a special Black History Month screening of the Documentary, BLACK MAN, to benefit Grand Rapids Youth Service Programs. From Muskegon filmmaker, Jon Covington.

“SHAFT” Film
Feb. 27, 8 p.m.
While the Black Power movement was reshaping America, trailblazing director Gordon Parks made this groundbreaking blockbuster, which helped launch the blaxploitation era and introduced a new kind of badder-than-bad action hero in John Shaft (Richard Roundtree, in a career-defining role). A vivid time capsule of gritty seventies Manhattan that has inspired sequels and multimedia reboots galore, the original Shaft is studded with indelible elements—from Roundtree’s sleek leather fashions to the iconic funk and soul score by Isaac Hayes.

Send your Black History Month events to lenos@hour-media.com.