Black History Month Activities and Events

A message from Angelique Harris, PhD, Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion

Black History Month provides us with the opportunity to consider the many ways Black Americans have contributed to American life, history, and culture. Since 1976, as a nation, we have come together each February to celebrate the achievements of Black Americans, while also recognizing the continued struggles for equity, inclusion, and racial justice. We begin this Black History month, just after the release of the video recorded beating on Tyre Nichols by Memphis police. This brutal assault, yet another devastating reminder of the continued need for justice and police accountability, serves as a reminder of the toll that these assaults have on our mental health, particularly for Black Americans.

This Black History Month, I urge you to enjoy the many activities and educational events happening in and around Boston such as the Black History Month Weekend at the Museum of Science this upcoming weekend and tours of the Museum of African American History. If you have children, or are young at heart, you can “Step into Art” that is inspired by the renowned Kehinde Wiley, or enjoy his work as well as the work of other Black artists at the exhibit “Touching Roots: Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas” at the Museum of Fine Arts. If you are a homebody, you can hop online to check out more about Black history in Massachusetts, but be sure to support the dozens of Black restaurants and business in and around Boston.

At Boston University, several events and programs explore race, racism and Black American experiences in biomedical research and academic medicine. On Feb. 1, Dr. Shoumita Dasgupta will present on the history of eugenics at 11:45 a.m. in L112. On the Charles River Campus  several lectures include: “The Uses and Abuses of Jim Crow” on Feb 7, and a lecture on Black women and environmental storytelling on the Feb. 23. On Feb. 8, the anniversary of Rebecca Lee Crumpler’s (MED 1864) birth, join us for a virtual panel as we recognize the achievements of four distinguished alumnae, who, like Crumpler, went on to practice more innovative and inclusive medicine. The following day, Feb. 9, the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology will host their DEIJ Black History Month Symposium: “Biocultural Perspectives on Anatomization,” where Anthropology faculty at American University and the University of South Carolina at Columbia will explore race and the anatomy of the body in L-405 from 2-4 p.m.

Finally, this Black History Month visit the Boston Common and take in the Embrace, the new statue in honor of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr. This piece reminds us that love, solidarity and community were always at the core of the Black experience in the United States.