Oakland will celebrate Black History Month through films, musical performances and discussions. Here’s a guide to the neighborhood’s celebrations.
Pitt’s Black History Month Kickoff Panel | Feb. 6 at 1 p.m.
Shallegra Moye, the director of educational enrichment and transition programs for the School of Education, will lead a panel about the history of African Americans at The University of Pittsburgh. Developed in collaboration with Equipoise and the Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing, the event will kick off Pitt’s Black History Month celebration. Moye said there will be a diverse panel of guests, including Clyde Wilson Pickett, the vice chancellor of the OIEW, and professors from the Schools of Public Health and Social Work. Located in the dining room of the O’Hara Student Center, the event is open to all, and registration is encouraged.
Black Action Society’s Small Business Pop-up | Feb. 6 at 3:30 p.m.
Pitt’s Black Action Society will host a small business pop-up event to promote Black-owned and locally-owned Pittsburgh businesses in room 528 of the William Pitt Union. According to Avery Brown, the public relations chair for BAS, the event intends to uplift small businesses and is open for all to attend.
Black History Month at Carnegie Museums | Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History will host a four-hour Black History Month celebration. According to Gina Winstead, vice president for inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the event will include a recognition of Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh‘s art show winners, rap and poetry performances, a talk led by Charles “Teenie” Harris community archivist Charlene Foggie-Barnett, a docent-guided tour about Black artists and connections to Pittsburgh, and step performances. The event is free with museum admission.
Chat & Chew Panel: Allowed to be Ordinary — Rethinking Black Excellence | Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
Pitt students will lead a panel in the WPU lower lounge about the pressures of perfection and excellence, with a focus on Black students and other students of color. The event is open for all to attend.
Carnegie Museum Seminar: Anti-Racist Initiatives in Exhibition Development at Science Museums | Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.
Joanne Jones-Rizzi, vice president of science, equity and education at the Science Museum of Minnesota, will host a seminar on anti-racist initiatives and exhibitions at science museums. As part of the R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar series, Jones-Rizzi will discuss her experience developing the U.S. traveling exhibition, “RACE: Are We So Different?” The seminar will take place in the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater and online via Zoom. Admission is free and open to all.
Black Action Society’s Open Mic Night | Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.
BAS will host an Open Mic Night at Nordy’s Place in the WPU. The event will showcase songs, poems, and spoken word performances. Brown said the event intends to feature creativity and self-expression, and is open to all.
Leroy Irvis Celebration | Feb. 24 at 6 p.m.
Pitt will honor K. Keroy Irvis as its annual Black History Month celebration. Irvis graduated from Pitt Law in 1954, became the first Black assistant district attorney in Allegheny County, and was the first Black speaker in any U.S. state legislature since Reconstruction. During the ceremony, the OIEW will highlight the accomplishments of seven community leaders in public service and education. Located in Connolly Ballroom in Alumni Hall, the event is free, and RSVP is encouraged.
Black Women’s Film Festival at Carnegie Museum of Art | Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.
The Carnegie Museum of Art will screen “The Ballad of Suzanne Cesaire,” a 2024 film about Suzanne Cesaire, a Martinican anti-colonialist writer, feminist activist, Afro-surrealist, and contributor to the Negritude movement. Madeleine Hunt-Erlich, the director of the film, and Tiffany Barber, an art historian, will lead a post-screening discussion on Black surrealism. The screening will take place in the Art Theater, and registration is free.
Sala Udin Documentary Screening at Carnegie Library | Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m.
The Carnegie Library of Oakland will screen “The Price of Resistance: Sala Udin, An American Agitator,” a documentary highlighting Udin’s life of civil rights advocacy in the Hill District and Greater Pittsburgh. Afterwards, the filmmakers will host a Q&A. The screening is free and open to all.