Lots of Events on Tap for BHM
There will be a plethora of events on the Calvin College campus in February in celebration of Black History Month. Below is the list with links where available to more info.
Friday, February 9 -- The Alarabara World Arts series will present a concert featuring Lettie Alston on keyboards with vocalists Glenda Kirkland and Charsie Randolph Sawyer (pictured). The concert begins at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center. It also includes Cedric Alston (synthesizer), Raymond Smith (bass), Steven Smith (guitar), and Marc Maddrie (drums/percussion). Musicians will perform beautiful orchestrated music by a wide variety of African American composers, including Lettie Alston and Cedric Alston. It will combine live electronics with secular and religious art songs, solo keyboard works and cross-over instrumental ensemble presentations. Also presented will be a Lettie Alston world premiere. Tickets for this concert are $3 for students, and $8. for adults, and are available at the Calvin Box Office. This concert is co-sponsored by the J.R. Randolph Company. Call 957-6282.
Thursday, February 15 to Friday, March 16 - The Art Gallery at Calvin College will host "Disclosures," an exhibit on feminism, equality and justice. The exhibit, which is being partially supported by a $3,000 mini-grant from the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids through the State of Michigan and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), includes photography and ceramics. Photographer Carla Williams (see below) is from Santa Fe, N.M. and her artwork is heavily influenced by historical images of black women and how black women are represented within culture. Call 957-6271.
Friday, February 16 - The 125th Anniversary Committee at Calvin College presents a panel discussion called "Part of the Story: Ethnic-minority Students at Calvin College." Panelists will discuss their experiences as students of color at Calvin and their experiences as Calvin graduates and Calvin alumni. There will be a pre-panel reception at 3 p.m. and the panel will begin at 3:30 p.m. Free and open to all. Call 957-6142.
Friday, February 23 -- As part of the "Disclosures" art exhibit, photographer Carla Williams will speak on "The Black Female Body in Photography." Williams, who has a book forthcoming on the same topic, will discuss her recent research into photographic images of black women, using slides to illustrate her talk. Williams will look at a variety of ways in which black women have been depicted, including the "national Geographic," the "mammy" and the "noble savage" theme. The lecture begins at 1 p.m. in Gezon Auditorium and is free and open to all. Call 957-6326.
Friday, February 23 -- Calvin College graduate Dr. Willie Jennings will return to his alma mater for a lecture that is part of the college's 125th Anniversary Series. The 1984 graduate, a religion and theology major, will speak on "The Color of the Mind: Race, Christian Discipleship and the Intellectual Life." That talk, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Gezon Auditorium on Calvin's campus. Call 957-6315.
Wednesday, February 28 -- The Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship presents Calvin English professor Elizabeth VanderLei in a talk titled "A Stone of Hope: The Beloved Community and the Kingdom of God in Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream." Free and open to all. Begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Meeter Center Lecture Hall. Call 616-957-7162. Calvin's Student Life Division also will host a series of four educational workshops on each of the four Thursdays in February on a variety of topics, including racism in music (led by Ken Heffner), readings by students of works by African American authors and an anti-racism training session.