Each February, Black History Month offers an opportunity to honor and celebrate the resilience, joy, struggles and innumerable contributions the Black community has made throughout the history of the United States.

At the UO, this year’s theme for Black History Month is “Nuance Noir(e).”

“The essence of Blackness is complex and nuanced; therefore this year's theme, ‘Nuance Noir(e),' embraces the dynamic intersections of what it means to be Black,” said Aris Hall, coordinator of the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center. “In spite of being faced with racism and hatred, the resilience and joy invigorates the rich culture that unites the Black community.”

Hall also noted the breadth and depth the term “Black” encompasses and its relationship to the UO.  

“Black is an inclusive term of African American, African, Afro-Latine, Afro-Caribbean and all others who have African Diasporic roots,” she said. “Nuance Noir(e) is a matrix illustration of Blackness at the University of Oregon.” 

Nationally, Black History Month has been recognized since 1915, when historian Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

The month’s events kick off at the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center with the annual Soul2Soul Networking Night on Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. Students, faculty members and staff are invited to be part of the tradition, now in its third year.

The Black Cultural Center will be hosting events throughout the month. On Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. is “State of Blackness: Nuance Noir(e).” “State of Blackness” is the center’s quarterly discussion series where students, faculty members and staff come together to discuss an important topic in the Black community. This term and in conjunction with Black History Month, the discussion will focus on “Nuance Noir(e)” and the differences within the Black community.

On Feb. 14 at the center is Speed Friending, offered by the Black Male Alliance, Black Women of Achievement, Muxeres, and Latinx Male Alliance and Allies. On Feb. 25 at 4:30 p.m. Black Greek 101 will have a National Pan-Hellenic Council Black History Month Trivia activity. On Feb. 28 the Black History Month keynote speaker, Spencer Paysinger, will be presented by the Black Cultural Center and Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Paysinger is a UO alumnus and former professional football player.

The annual Black Excellence Gala, sponsored by the Black Student Union will be Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. in the EMU Redwood Auditorium, Room 214.

For those looking for film screenings, much is offered throughout the month. An on-campus free screening of “Public Plea” is Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. in Room 141, Allen Hall. The new documentary film is produced by professor Ed Madison and a team of School of Journalism and Communication alums and current students. It explores the dilemma facing Ricky Gaters, a young Black male, and many others incarcerated under Measure 11, a mandatory sentencing law passed decades ago amid the nation’s “tough-on-crime” era. Seating is limited. Preregistration required and found here.

The Multicultural Center will present a screening of “The Loyola Project” on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in the EMU Redwood Auditorium. Loyola basketball player and co-captain Lucas Williamson examines the Loyola Ramblers of Chicago, who in 1963 broke racial barriers and changed college basketball forever.   

The Department of Linguistics will present two films in Room 156, Straub Hall. “Talking Black in America” will be shown Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. The film portrays the circumstances that shaped the language variety now spoken by the descendants of enslaved Africans brought to the U.S. and their effect on American life and language. On Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. “Signing Black In America” will be screened. The movie is the first film about Black American Sign Language. 

Ducks after Dark will offer three films free to UO students. On Feb. 3 will be “Respect,” a biopic about Aretha Franklin; on Feb. 10 the Marvel Cinematic Universe film “Black Panther” will be shown; and on Feb. 17 “King Richard,” centered on the family of Venus and Serena Williams, is on tap. All films start at 7:15 p.m. in the EMU Redwood Auditorium, Room 214.

In-person, livestreamed and virtual lectures, workshops and panel discussions will feature offerings from university speakers to national experts on a broad range of topics.

“Black Entrepreneurship: Steps to Becoming Your Own Boss” will be presented by the Financial Wellness Center in collaboration with the UO Black Male Alliance, Lundquist College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and the Multicultural Center. The virtual event will take place Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. The event will highlight the history of Black entrepreneurship and opportunities for participants to learn from successful brand strategists, venture capitalists and connoisseurs. Registration is required.

The Derrick Bell Lecture, presented by the School of Law in collaboration with the African American Workshop and Lecture Series, will present A’lelia Bundles on “’Your First Duty Is to Humanity’ — Echoes of Derrick Bell in Madam C.J. Walker’s Activism and Entrepreneurship.” The Feb. 9 event will begin at 5:30 p.m. in-person in Room 110, Knight Law Center and will also be livestreamed. Preregistration is required.

Later in the month, the African American Workshop and Lecture Series will present choreographer Claudia Schreier speaking on “Creating Passage: Reflections on Choreographing for Dance Theatre of Harlem.” The Feb. 22 noon event will be livestreamed and in-person in EMU Redwood Auditorium. Preregistration required.

The Department of Art and Center for Art Research, co-sponsored by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, will offer a talk by Lezley Saar, “Surrealism, Symbolism, and Significance,” as part of thevisiting artist lecture series. The virtual even takes place Feb. 3 at 4 p.m.  Saar will talk about her series “Anomalies, Mulatto Nation, Autist’s Fables, Madwoman in the Attic, Monad, Gender Renaissance, A Conjuring of Conjurors, and Black Garden”, and the various themes that deal with notions of race, gender, sanity, literature, heritage, escapism and marginalization. Registration required.

The Indigenous and Women of Color Speaker Series, sponsored by the Women’s Center and Black Cultural Center, will take place Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. in Room 156, Straub Hall. More information can be found in the UO Calendar.

The Oregon Humanities Center will offer a virtual lecture and workshop with Fanny Brewster on Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. Brewster will discuss the history of American slavery from an Africanist psychological point of view in her virtual talk, “Letting My Heart Be Broken: Healing Cultural Trauma.” 

Brewster’s Feb. 13 workshop, “Dreaming in Black and White: Race in the Unconscious,” will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants will gather and share their perspectives on American history in terms of collective cultural trauma. More information on the center’s webpage. Register for the talk and workshop at eugenefriendsofjung.org 

The BE Series will present “BE Sports with Drake Hills” on Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. in the EMU ballroom. Hills is a major league soccer reporter for the USA Today Network and is a 2018 alumnus of the UO School of Journalism and Communication.

On Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. a panel of Black mental health professionals will virtually present the program “Black Heal,” discuss current mental health concerns affecting the Black community, and present ways to promote Black healing and wellness.

Athletic activities and a library exhibit are also part of the month’s campus offerings. The Black Women of Achievement will offer the Black Excellence Games on Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m. on the UO Recreation Field. The Black History Month men's basketball game, offered by UO athletics, will be Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena. The UO libraries offers an online exhibit honoring Black scholars and providing resources.

In the local community, the NAACP Eugene/Springfield will hold its annual signature event, the Freedom Fund Dinner, on Feb. 25, For more information see the NAACP website.

For more information on these and other campus and community events, check the websites of the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center and the Division of Equity and Inclusion.

—By tova stabin, University Communications