Learning, Sharing, Celebrating

Yesterday was the first day of Black History Month. Here are some words worth pondering from Erika Strauss Chavarria, President of Columbia Community Care:

Happy Black History Month! We celebrate Black History from January 1st- December 31st.

Amen to that.

I want to call your attention to some upcoming activities while also acknowledging that there are many many more that will be going on in Howard County throughout the month.

First, an entire five days of learning and celebration beginning tomorrow, February 3rd for Black Lives Matter at School Week. Notice the collaboration at work here. I’m really excited to see this lineup.

Anti Racist Education Alliance, Columbia Community Care, African American Coalition of Howard County, Community Allies of Rainbow Youth, Luminus, Howard County Educators Association.

Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action 2025 - - learn more and register for events here.

Notice the green stripe at the bottom: Free Dinner, Free Admission, Open to Everyone. The planners want to remove barriers that might make it difficult for people to participate.

On Saturday February 8th the African American Community Roundtable is holding a Community Read-In.

DROP IN TO CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH AS YOUTH, STAFF, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS READ BOOKS BY BLACK AUTHORS AND CREATE ARTS AND CRAFTS. THIS EVENT IS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN READ-IN, A LITERACY INITIATIVE THAT ENCOURAGES COMMUNITIES TO READ TOGETHER, CENTERING AFRICAN AMERICAN BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

You have your choice of two Howard County Library locations: East Columbia Branch from 12-2 pm or Glenwood Branch from 1-3 pm.

Again, notice the community partners listed at the bottom here. This kind of collaboration makes events like this possible.

And notice the words in the red box this time, which tell you what you can expect: FREE BOOK GIVE AWAYS WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. FREE ADMISSION AND PARTICIPATION FOR ALL AGES. LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED.

Please feel free to add any other local Black History events in the comments, and keep me posted throughout the month.

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