The free events, which will take place at 300 Jay St. (at Tillary) in Downtown Brooklyn, will include a lecture, choral and dramatic performances, an exhibition, and a reading. For additional information, please contact Hazel Gibbs at (718) 260-5205 or [email protected].

 

Black Migrations

Atrium Amphitheater

 

Keynote address at 11:30 a.m. by Dr. Jo-Ann Graham, “The Great Migration: Agent of Change.” Preceded and followed by performances by the City Tech Community Choir and students on the theme of migration.
 

Graham will explore how the Great Migration of American blacks from the South in the early 20th century changed the nation, changed the individuals and changed the roles of American blacks in the U.S. She will reference the vision of two artists of different generations — painter Jacob Lawrence, who in 1941 produced his “Migration Series” of 60 paintings; and writer Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (2010), a New York Times best-seller and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.
 

Graham has lectured around the world on abstract expressionism and the African-American artist, among other topics. She has served on the board of the Hammond Museum and also served with the Cinque Art Gallery, founded by Romare Bearden, Ernest Crichlow and Norman Lewis to enhance opportunities for black artists and establish an educational venue for the public. She has chaired the Department of Communication and served as coordinator of the Division of Humanities at Bronx Community College.

 

Other Black History Month Events at City Tech:

 

(Daily when college is open.)

Library Exhibit: 

“Black Migrations” 

Atrium Building, 4th Floor

 

This two-part exhibit includes a poster presentation by City Tech’s graphic design students (including selected work by Albert Li, designer of the college’s Black History Month artwork) and a visual history using photos, circulars and other printed material tracing the history of migrations by people of African descent throughout the world — the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Great Migration and Caribbean immigration to New York City, among others.

 

11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Storytelling in Black Theatre

Atrium Student Lounge — Ground Floor Atrium Bldg.

 

This presentation will include storytelling and a lecture by African-American Studies faculty member Monica Williams. It will highlight how storytelling has shaped early and contemporary Black Theater. 

 

12:45 p.m.. to 2 p.m.

City Tech Celebrates the 23rd Year of the National African American Read-In

Namm 119 — New Student Center

 

The National Read-In will include student, faculty and staff participants, who will share various forms of literature, including poems, essays and excerpts from novels and plays. Students also will read from original works. Most of the readings will focus on the movement of African people throughout the world. 

Among the sponsors of City Tech’s Black History Month events are the College’s Department of African American Studies, Office of Enrollment and Student Affairs, Office of the Provost, Black Male Initiative and Black Women’s Networking Committee. Graham’s lecture is made possible through “Speakers in the Humanities,” a program of the New York Council for the Humanities supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
 

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New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of The City University of New York (CUNY) is the largest public college of technology in New York State. Located at 300 Jay St. in Downtown Brooklyn, the college enrolls 16,000 students in 62 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs.