Black History Month

Delaware County colleges and school districts are celebrating Black History Month with activities ranging from appearances by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove and political activist Paul Robeson Jr. to a variety of musical and educational programs. Dove, who won a Pulitzer Prize for poetry last year, will read from her works at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 23 in Room 101 of the main building of Penn State University's Delaware County campus in Middletown. Robeson will speak about his late father, Paul Robeson, at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lang Auditorium at Swarthmore College.

If anyone out there has a giant (27-inch by 41-inch) original MGM-issued poster for the 1929 King Vidor film Hallelujah! , John Kisch would very much like to meet you. The director of A Separate Cinema, an archive of almost 35,000 posters, lobby cards, film stills, and graphic images chronicling the history of black cinema in America - from the Silent Era to the not-at-all-silent Tyler Perry - Kisch is still on the prowl, 40 years since he began...

Community activist Velma Mitchell (right) and John Shelton, president of the Chester Branch of the NAACP, accept a resolution from the Delaware County Council commemorating February as the 62d annual Black History Month. The County Council met Feb. 2, and unanimously passed a resolution giving February's celebration the theme of "Black Americans and the Struggle for Excellence in Education. " The council also cited several organizations for their participation in the month's celebration.

  Soon after Black History Month became a February fixture in the mid-1970s, professional stages in big cities around the country began to pick up on it, and for a time it seemed as though a growing canon of African American-themed plays would be available - but only in February. As that collection of work has become richer and audiences have become more diverse, February has become a less visible month for such productions. Indeed, many artistic directors say they believe that relegating plays about race or African Americans to one month a season minimizes not just the work but the talent pool of black theater artists.

Today begins Black History Month, the period annually set aside to recognize the contributions of African-Americans and increase awareness of a black heritage that for many years was concealed because of racism. Philadelphia, an important location for black historical development and a key cultural center, will host one of the nation's most impressive assemblages of events celebrating black achievement - including about 200 exhibits, musical presentations and lectures. Among the activities planned this month will be a speech by Charles Blockson, curator of the Afro-American Collection at Temple University, on his book, The Underground Railroad.

Students throughout the region are celebrating Black History Month with special events. Students at The Shipley School, a private school in Bryn Mawr, recently enjoyed performances by the school's handbell choir and singing groups. There was also a poetry reading and a performance by a jazz band. Oakmont Elementary School, part of the Haverford Township School District, recently hosted a Jazz Assembly. Students learned about the history of jazz and were permitted to handle the instruments.

As president of the Black Student Union of Pennsylvania State University's Ogonz Campus, VonEric Saunders faced a challenge when deciding which speakers to invite to his school for Black History Month. The sophomore from Springfield knew the population of blacks in Montgomery County was small - less than 5 percent. Black student enrollment at the university's Ogonz campus is also slight - 210 out of more than 3,500 students. What could he plan that would simultaneously attract a cross-section of people and honor black Americans' achievements?

Miki N. Takamori, 48, a medical administrator, died Monday, April 1, at Temple University Hospital of injuries sustained in an early-morning fire that raced through her West Philadelphia home Jan. 23. Ms. Takamori jumped from a second-floor window just after 4:30 trying to escape the blaze in the 4600 block of Larchwood Avenue. The fire was out by 5:30 a.m. No one else was injured. Ms. Takamori was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and transferred to Temple's Burn Intensive Care Unit the same day. Fire officials on Wednesday attributed the cause of the fire to "non-permanent electrical wiring" on the premises.

CALL IT dashiki-gate. I'm referring to what happened last week when a black member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives attempted to address the body while dressed in Afro-centric attire. Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, D-North Philadelphia, had donned a kufi cap and a striking blue flowing garment with gold embroidery Feb. 13 in anticipation of the House's annual Black History Month celebration later that day. As House protocol requires, Thomas approached the microphone and waited to be recognized by Rep. Karen Boback, R-Columbia County, who was standing in for House Speaker Sam Smith.

Eighty-seven years ago - when black Americans were still terrorized by lynching - black historian Carter G. Woodson had a simple but powerful idea: Designate a week to celebrate the contributions that black Americans had made to their country. Woodson chose the second week of February to commemorate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Negro History Week, as it was known, was an important development for its time. Back then, official history barely acknowledged the presence of black Americans, while popular culture actively diminished their humanity.

If anyone out there has a giant (27-inch by 41-inch) original MGM-issued poster for the 1929 King Vidor film Hallelujah! , John Kisch would very much like to meet you. The director of A Separate Cinema, an archive of almost 35,000 posters, lobby cards, film stills, and graphic images chronicling the history of black cinema in America - from the Silent Era to the not-at-all-silent Tyler Perry - Kisch is still on the prowl, 40 years since he began...

A PHOTO of Emmett Till's casket that I saw on Facebook last week chilled me to my core. I was reminded of that tragedy from our nation's history of a 14-year-old boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi during the summer of 1955, who offended a white woman and who wound up paying with his life. Next, I found myself staring at a photo of the Bryant Grocery and Meat Market, where Till and the shop owner's wife, Carolyn Bryant, whom Till is said to have whistled at, had encountered each other.

By William C. Kashatus Jim McGowan had mixed emotions about Black History Month. "It's wonderful to remember the important contributions African Americans made to the United States," he'd say, "but by limiting the lessons to one month, we marginalize those contributions and remove blacks from the larger narrative of American history, where they belong year-round. " McGowan, who died in 2008 at age 76, was a historian by passion and a Renaissance man by trade. Although most people wouldn't rank him among this country's African American heroes, he was a role model for people of all races.

Stories of real human beings make history powerful. Photographs make it immediate. Outstanding examples of both are on the schedule as the Free Library of Philadelphia begins a series of Black History Month programs this week. On Tuesday, eminent civil rights historian Taylor Branch will talk about his new book, The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement (Simon & Schuster, $26), a 190-page distillation of his magisterial three-volume history, America in the King Years , the product of 24 years of research.

Joe Becton put on his half top hat and straightened his bow tie, tugged at the lapels of his morning jacket, and strode through the lobby of the Independence Visitor Center. "Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!" His voice filled the room. Park rangers grinned. Tourists stared. "Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here," he sang, walking into the center's theater followed by a small crowd. For the next hour, he led the group through a whirlwind history of the Underground Railroad, punctuated every few minutes by a traditional song or spiritual.

As a Cherry Hill High School East student passionate about theater, Keisha Blount thought that she didn't fit in shows like Guys and Dolls , Grease , and The Sound of Music . "It's very difficult as an African American in Cherry Hill to be in the theater department," she said, noting that black characters are not featured in most shows. "There aren't as many opportunities to be in the spotlight. " Blount, who graduated from East in 2005, shied away from school performances for two years and gravitated toward an annual show held to mark Black History Month, featuring students from the school's African American Culture Club.