Black History Month honored at Wichita State

The Office of Multicultural Affairs at Wichita State University is holding several events throughout February on the WSU campus in observance of Black History Month.

The first event, the movie series “History of Black Achievement,” is from 1-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, in the Rhatigan Student Center Shocker Square. The series of films will run all afternoon. It documents the history of contributions of African-Americans, which may not always appear in history books.

From noon-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the Rhatigan Student Center Shocker Square, the Spike Lee movie “4 Little Girls” will be shown. The movie is based on the 1963 bombing of a black church that took the lives of four little girls and caused outrage throughout the country, lending strength to the Civil Rights Movement.

The next event will be the Office of Multicultural Affairs Open House from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at Grace Wilkie Annex 174.

The Black History Awareness Fair is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at the Rhatigan Student Center First Floor Corridor. Exhibits from local libraries, WSU departments and other campus and community agencies will highlight the rich contributions of African Americans to the history of the United States.

A panel discussion, “Civil Rights Then and Now,” is being held from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, in 203 Rhatigan Student Center. Panelists from the Wichita community will share their experiences from the Civil Rights era.

From noon-1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in the Rhatigan Student Center Shocker Square, the movie “The Tuskegee Airmen” will be shown. Based on a true World War II story, the movie tells the story of the U.S. Army Air Corps’ first squadron of African-American combat fighter pilots.

Daisy Kabagarama

Daisy Kabagarama

“From Africa to America: Black History Told in Music, Drama, Dance and Drumming” will be held from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Hughes Metropolitan Complex Lowe Auditorium. The story of the journey from Africa and beyond will feature African-American history dramatizations by Daisy Kabagarama, Bishop Jeanette James and Tony Brown, as well as gospel music by local choirs.

The final event will be the film premiere of “From the Bottom,” a documentary on former state senator Ulysses Lee “Rip” Gooch, from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the Hughes Metropolitan Complex Lowe Auditorium. The documentary chronicles Gooch’s outstanding aviation career.

Admission for all events is free, and all are open to the public.

The events are sponsored by the WSU Office of Multicultural Affairs, under the direction of associate dean of students and director John O. Bello-Ogunu Sr.