Clark State Community College will celebrate Black History Month with a February calendar full of events and opportunities for students and the community.
“The significance of these events in celebrating Black History Month is to remember the adversity and gains through fellowship and education while recognizing African American professionals within our community to create awareness and provide opportunities for discussion,” said Crystal Jones, faculty co-chair for the Diversity Committee and program coordinator/associate professor for Clark State’s Management program.
The Central State Chorus will kick-off the month-long celebration with a performance on February 2 at 8 p.m. at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 South Fountain Avenue in downtown Springfield. Tickets are free but must be reserved in person or by phone at the Clark State Performing Arts Center Box Office. This marks the fifth year the chorus has performed at the Performing Arts Center in honor of Black History Month.
“The leadership at Clark State and Central State is committed to providing pathways and partnerships that benefit student success, both inside and outside the classroom,” said Dr. Jo Alice Blondin, president of Clark State. “The performance by the Central State Chorus truly embodies the spirit of our collaboration.”
The Clark State Library will participate in the commemoration of Black History Month by providing a weekly Black History quiz via email, feature a Black History display and hold a contest called “Blind Date with a Book,” which will feature an eclectic ensemble of African American and non-African American books.
Raphael Allen from the Clark State Admissions Office and Olivia Montgomery from Project Woman will host an open forum for African American students. The focus will be health, poverty and similar barriers to completing education. This event will be held at the Springfield campus at 11:30 a.m., February 7 in the Applied Science Center, Room 125 and at the Greene Center Campus in Beavercreek at 11:30 a.m., February 28 in Room 119.
Clark State will offer a trip to the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio, for students to visit the Black History Month exhibits on February 14. Interested students should contact Crystal Jones at (937) 328-8040 to reserve a seat.
The second annual Black History Month celebration dinner with Mercy Health - Springfield will be held at the Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts & Conference Center on February 15 at 5:30 p.m. This year’s theme is “Health and Safety in the Black Community” and features presentations from a local minority physician, firefighter, EMS professional and representative from law enforcement. Tickets are free but must be reserved by calling or emailing Tracy Yates at (937) 328-7975 or yatest@clarkstate.edu.
Movie tickets are available for interested students, faculty and staff to see the movie Black Panther on February 16. Contact John Minter at (937) 328-6034 for tickets.
The traditional Bid Whist Tournament will be held from 1 - 3 p.m. on February 17 in the Security National Bank Community Rooms 207/209 in the LRC building.
New this year, Clark State will host the Spoken Word event from 5 - 7 p.m. on February 23 at the Eagle’s Nest Restaurant in the Karen E. Rafinski Student Center. This event will be open to the students, faculty, staff and the community as an open mic event.
"Spoken word is a performance art that is word based. It is an oral art that focuses on the aesthetics of word play and intonation and voiceinflection,” said Jones. “It is a 'catchall' which includes any kind of poetry recited aloud, including hip hop, jazz poetry, poetry slams, traditional poetry readings and can include comedy routines and ‘prose’ monologues."