Calendar

Known as the "Queen Mother" and "Matriarch of Black Dance", Dunham (1909-2006) pioneered a new form of artistic expression by fusing her anthropological studies of Caribbean cultures with modern dance techniques, creating the Dunham Technique which is still widely taught today. She formed one of the first black ballet companies, the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, through which she showcased the beauty and power of the Dunham Technique's African diasporic dance movements. One of the company's celebrated works was the 1948 piece Caribbean Rhapsody, which featured a remarkable performance by the then 21-year-old Eartha Kitt. The company also achieved acclaim through Broadway and Hollywood performances that brought the Dunham Technique to global audiences.

Butler (1947-2006) was the the mother of Afrofuturism.

Starring Dorothy Dandridge and Sydney Potier.

An ensemble cast starring Halle Berry, Robin Givens, Eartha Kitt, Tisha Campbell, and Eddie Murphy.

A Box Office smash!

A member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team and the first black woman to become the head coach of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Track & Field team.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark legislation that formally ended segregation and dismantled the Jim Crow system by banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in various aspects of American life, including employment, education, and public accommodations.

In 2001, Simmons became the first Black woman to lead an Ivy League Institution when she was sworn in as the 18th President of Brown University.

Slowe's legacy is deeply woven into the fabric of African American history. As one of the nine original founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated at Howard University in 1908, she helped lay the foundation for an organization that would empower generations of Black women. Slowe became the first African American to win a major athletic title when she won the American Tennis Association championship in 1917, and she served as the first Dean of Women at Howard University (the first African American to serve in such a position at any university in the US), dedicating her career to supporting young Black women in higher education.

Lewis (1844-1907) was a sculptor, known as Wildfire.

Hedgeman (1899-1990) was a civil rights activist, educator, politician, author, founding member of the National Organization for Women, and was the first woman member on the administrative planning committee for the 1963 March on Washington. She reportedly recruiter over 40,000 marchers from the National Council of Churches.

A talented singer-songwriter and actress, who was a beloved figure in the music industry who is remembered for her for her significant contributions to R&B and jazz. She left a permanent mark with her powerful vocal range, captivating voice, stunning beauty, and undeniable stage presence.

"To a Dark Girl" Something of old forgotten queens lurks in the lithe abandon of your walk. And something of the shackled slave sobs in the rhythm of your talk.

On July 9, 1860, the Clotilda, a two-masted 86 foot schooner anchored off Point of Pines in Grand Bay, Mississippi carrying 110 enslaved Africans in spite of the 1807 Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves. It was the last known U.S. slave ship, and among its youngest passengers was two-year-old Matilda McCrear, who would survive until 1940, becoming one of the last living links to the transatlantic slave trade.

Referred to as the First Lady of Negro America, Bethune (1875-1955) was an impassioned Educator and founder of Bethune-Cookman College and the The National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

Alexander Lane (1916-2007) founded the Harlem Institute of Fashion in 1966 and established the Black Fashion Museum in Harlem, NY in 1979.

Starring Nia Long, Cubs Good Jr, Angela Bassett, and Laurence Fishburne