Black History Month Committee at New College of Florida

New College’s annual Black History Month program rallies the campus community as we celebrate and explore the rich history, culture, and contemporary realities of Black people and communities. As an annual program, Black History Month at New College intentionally focuses on Black communities in the United States and abroad in order to highlight the complexity and multiplicity of blackness and Black experiences. Established by the visionary work of Dr. Queen Zabriskie and four undergraduate students– Nasib McIntosh, Donovan Brown, Paul Loriston, and the late Ijeoma Uzoukwu–, the inaugural Black History Month program took place in February 2015. Working together, these individuals addressed a need on campus to illuminate, preserve, increase information about Black life for the campus community. Since then, the committee has grown to consist of students, staff, faculty, and administrators who collaborate to bring the design and implementation of the program to life! The pillars of the annual programming include the Black Arts and Performance series, the Conversations on Race and Ethnicity public lecture series, the African Diaspora Film Festival, the Black Literature Read-in, the New Schools of Black Thought Symposium, and a display in the Jane Bancroft Cook Library. Additionally, the committee arranges opportunities to serve the surrounding community in partnership with various local schools and organizations. All events are appropriate for community members of any age and of many different interests. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public.