BLACK HISTORY MONTH Area events

A list of area events to commemorate in February, which is Black History Month, as submitted to The Vindicator:

TRUMBULL COUNTY

Saturday: The YWCA Warren, in partnership with Seekers of True African History, or SOTAH, will host its first conference, “From Africa to America,” at the YWCA Warren, 375 N. Park Ave., from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The conference is free and designed to re-educate people about Africans and their rightful place in history and will cover topics such as: Africans in the Bible; the civil-rights movement; African music and dance; and biographies of great Africans and black Americans. Vendor space is available for $25. Call Orneil Heller with SOTAH at 330-307-6098 or Lea Dotson with the YWCA Warren at 330-373-1010, ext. 18, to register or for more information.

Feb. 23: “The African Odyssey in Pre-Columbian America” lecture with Dr. George Garrison, 6 to 7 p.m. Kent State University, Classroom/Administration building, Room 202. Garrison is a tenured professor at Kent State University. His works are published nationally and internationally. Before his time at KSU, Garrison served in the Vietnam War and also taught at a boarding school in the Navajo Nation. He will be discussing how over the last half-century or more, evidence has been discovered that has clearly established an African presence in the Americas centuries before the voyages of Columbus to this part of the world. This lecture will seek to summarize the evidence that is the foundation for the claim that Africans have been present in this land from the Pre-Christian Era to the period of the arrival of Europeans in this hemisphere; and to explain how these ancient African visitors traveled throughout this continent given the impenetrable forests, swamps, mountains and deserts that were natural barriers to traveling in this land.

Feb. 26: Third annual Black History Month celebration, 4 p.m., Triedstone Baptist Church, 143 Griswold St. NE, Warren. Poetry, instrumental solos, narration and more. For information, call 330-399-8262.

MAHONING COUNTY

Friday: Harambee Dancers, 4 p.m., Horizon Science Academy, 3403 Southern Blvd., Youngstown.

Saturday: The Faces of Black History, an entertainment group from New Jersey, 7:30 p.m., YSU Kilcawley Center, Chestnut Room.

Sunday: Speaker on the state of African-Americans and how to better the family, 4 p.m., Beulah Baptist Church, 570 Sherwood Ave., Youngstown.

Feb. 24: Lecture by Shawan Williams: “Blogging While Black,” 7:30 p.m., YSU Kilcawley Center, Gallery.

Feb. 25: Steel Museum, 151 W. Wood St., Youngstown, 2 to 3 p.m. Steffon Wydell Jones, local historian and Civil War re-enactor, will perform in first person black Civil War soldiers of Oak Hill Cemetery and the life of his father, George Wydell Jones Jr., of The Edsels singing group. Admission: $5 for adults; $3 for seniors; $2 for children.

Feb. 25: Family movie “10,000 Black Men Named George,” 1 p.m., East Library, 430 Early Road. For information, call 330-740-6086.

Feb. 25: Rising Star Baptist Church, 2943 Wardle Ave., Youngstown, free Black History Month program at 6 p.m. Story telling, poetry featured.

Feb. 26: “An Evening of Gospel Jazz,” 6 p.m., YSU Kilcawley Center, Chestnut Room.

Feb. 26: Talent show with youth from churches in Youngstown, Campbell and Warren, 4 p.m., Beulah Baptist Church, 570 Sherwood Ave., Youngstown.

Feb. 28: Family movie night “Remember the Titans,” 4:30 p.m., Horizon Science Academy, 3403 Southern Blvd., Youngstown.

Feb. 29: Third-grade classes will highlight famous historical black Americans during their Wax Museum, 10 a.m. to noon, Horizon Science Academy, 3403 Southern Blvd., Youngstown.

Sources: Event organizers