Queens Public Library celebrates Black History Month at more than 120 events
/
The Queens Public Library is celebrating Black History Month with more than 120 events. Image via QPL.
By Rachel Vick
The Queens Public Library is celebrating Black History Month with more than 120 free events at branches across the borough.
This year’s theme, “Go Far, Go Together,” will honor past and present trailblazers, icons and leaders through programs that take attendees through the centuries of struggles and achievements by African Americans.
Events include the Annual Langston Hughes Celebration, held Feb. 8 at the Langston Hughes Library in Corona. A poetry reading and tribute to artist Ashley Brian will precede a performance by soprano Monique McDonald, who will perform“A Musical Journey through 500 Years of African-American History,” a selection of songs based on Hughes’ lyrics.
Many of the events will honor the fight for freedom, from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement and into today.
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, kids will be able to visit the Langston Hughes branch and create a quilt, while learning about the importance of quilts for carrying secret information along the Underground Railroad.
The Edge School of the Arts will present “Moving Portraits of the American Civil Rights Movement” on Feb. 8 at the Central Library. The event, which includes spoken word, protest songs and a performance by tap dancer Omar Edwards, tells the story of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing — a terrorist act by white supremacists that killed four young black girls.
Other events celebrate the legacies of civil rights leaders. On Feb. 10, the Flushing Library will host a multimedia reenactment of the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was almost stabbed in Harlem. On Feb 24, the Poppenhusen branch, off College Point Boulevard, will host a night dedicated to the words and lasting impact of leaders like Dr. King, Sojourner Truth and Malcolm X.
Sherwin Banfield’s trio of nine-foot-tall audio sculptures, “A Cypher in Queens,” will be on display at Central Library until the end of the month. The statues honor Queens’ late hip hop icons Jam Master Jay, Phife Dawg and Prodigy. Banfield will discuss his creative process during a workshop on Feb. 6.
Workshops that honor African heritage include an introduction to the “griot” tradition of oral history by Abdou Mboup at Lefrak City, Baisley Park and Cambria Heights.
Dozens of other programs and events can be found on the QPL website.
