The college will host approximately a dozen in-person and virtual events in February in honor of Black History Month.
To start off on Feb. 2, students will have the chance to paint and interact with Annapolis artist Comacell Brown Jr.
Christina Thurston will show her documentary, “Boldly Beautiful Ethnic Hair Care on the Great Plains,” on Feb. 9. The film is about her experience finding haircare when she moved from Maryland to South Dakota.
On Feb. 23, faculty and staff will promote Historically Black Colleges and Universities to students who are looking to transfer. There will be scavenger hunts, games and alumni presentations.
Then on Feb. 28, up to 15 students will tour the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis. Students have to RSVP for the event.
“Many people have never been there and so we really wanted to get the students to take advantage of this event,” Black History Month Coordinator Stephanie Smith-Baker said.
Throughout the month, Baltimore painter Calvin Coleman will display artwork in the Pascal Center for Performing Arts.
Black History Month will include the annual Race Card Project, which allows students to write about race and post their thoughts in the Careers Center and in the Humanities building.
Smith-Baker, a professor of health sciences, said the Black History Month committee is “intentionally bringing diversity to the … month-long activities.”
Student Government Association Vice President of Finance Michael Amwoga, a third-year business student, noted Black History Month “helps to remind the younger generation of students [of] the progress this country, and technically the world, has made.”
Second-year communications student Laniya Harris said it’s “really cool” that the college celebrates Black History Month.
“When I was in high school, we really didn’t do things like this,” Harris said. “So I’m happy that it’s happening in … higher levels of education.”