Not Your Typical Apologist or Reactionary Black History Month Celebration

February is Black History Month

Black History Month, a holiday founded in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week, celebrates the achievements of the black community in the history of the USA. Black History Month is still celebrated in 2005 despite the fact that the black community deals with state repression, mass incarceration, forced sterilizations and poverty on a daily basis. Black History Month continues to essentialize blackness as it is experienced in the USA.

What are you doing for the other 11 months?

Join the New College of California Community for a critical look at Black History Month.

Film Showings:

February 8th:

Brown Bag Lunch 1-3pm, 766 Valencia, Rm 4
“USA, Incarcerated” and “Visions of Freedom”

Produced by Critical Resistance, “USA, Incarcerated” is a fast-paced exploration of the Prison Industrial Complex, who profits from it, what we are giving up for it, and what we can do about it. It includes dialogues with Angela Davis, Geronimo ji Jaga, Mike Davis, and Ramona Africa as well as music by Spearhead, Ani DiFranco, John Trudell, and the Welfare Poets.
Also produced by Critical Resistance, “Visions of Freedom” shows highlights from the Critical Resistance Conference held in Berkeley, California in 1998. Weaving music, poetry and speakers at the conference, this video highlights the growing movement to end the lockdown.

6:30-9:30, 766 Valencia, Cultural Center
“Watermelon Woman”
Directed by Cheryl Dunye and starring Dunye herself, the film uses documentary and pseudo-documentary styles of filmmaking in the fictional story of a young film director researching the life of Fea Richards, a 1930s black film actress known as the "The Watermelon Woman." Dunye displays her passion for uncovering the hidden histories and continuities of black lesbian life at the same time working towards cinematic representations of black women that refute racist stereotypes