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Penn State Berks Celebrates Black History Month

by Penn State Berks

Jan 28, 2022

In honor of Black History Month, Penn State Berks will hold the following events in February 2021. All events are free and open to the public.

Diversity Series Event
Feb. 6, at 3 p.m. – Black History Festival
Perkins Student Center Auditorium

The Penn State Berks Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, in partnership with the Reading School District, will host a Black History Festival in the Perkins Student Center Auditorium. Attendees will view the blockbuster film Black Panther, followed by a discussion and a display of Black history and culture. This event is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served. For additional information, contact Sharon Pitterson-Ogaldez, coordinator of diversity and international programs, at 610-396-6080 or via email at [email protected].

Arts and Lecture Series Presentations

Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. – Mike Africa, Jr., member of MOVE, activist, speaker, hip hop artist
Perkins Student Center Auditorium

Mike Africa, Jr. is a member of MOVE, a Philadelphia-based communal organization with philosophies of black nationalism and anarcho-primitivism. He is also the son of two political prisoners who were sentenced to 100 years terms. Africa was secretly born in a Philadelphia prison following a police raid on his family’s home. As an infant, he was placed in an orphanage where he was physically and mentally abused. At age 6, he witnessed the smoke in the air from a police helicopter dropped two bombs onto the roof of the MOVE compound, killing 11 of his family members.

At age 13, Afrika began using his music to raise awareness about his experiences in the hopes of gaining justice for his family. In June 2018, after 40 years in prison, Mike finally got his mother released from prison. Four months later, he was successful in gaining his father’s release.

Currently, Mike travels the country as a keynote and public speaker telling his incredible story and inspiring others with his powerful message. He is the host of the podcast “On a Move with Mike Africa, Jr.,” the star of the HBO Max documentary “40 Years A Prisoner.”

For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.

Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. – Zuzu African Acrobats

Perkins Student Center Auditorium

Hailing from Tanzania, Zuzu African Acrobats celebrate the 2,000-year-old Bantu culture of East Africa. Each member of the cast has received special instructions from elders in the Bagamoyo Arts and Cultural Institute to perform these ancient traditions and to share them with audiences around the world. Some of the highlights of this training include proficiency with the ngoma (drum), contortion (ubishi wa solo), dish spinning (sahani inazunguka), chair balance (kusawazisha kiti), unicycles and bicycle tricks (baiskeli), human pyramids (mazoezi ya viungo) and much more – all to the sounds of African beats. The grace, beauty and strength of Africa stands as living testimony presented through living human art and entertainment. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.

Diversity Series Event 

Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. – ‘Being Black at Berks’
Perkins Student Center Auditorium

The Black Student Union student organization will host the fourth annual “Being Black at Berks.” This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Sharon Pitterson-Ogaldez, coordinator of diversity and international programs, at 610-396-6080 or via email at [email protected].

In addition to these events, Penn State Berks Chancellor George Grant, Jr. was invited to give the keynote address for the Black Excellence Brunch on Saturday, February 19, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the DoubleTree Reading. For more information on this event, contact the Bring the Change organization at [email protected].

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