By Nancy De Gennaro, Daily News Journal, February 5, 2015
Multiple Black History Month activities will be held at Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center.
MURFREESBORO — Black History Month will be recognized in a variety of ways in the coming weeks.
Quiz bowl
As a friendly competition among middle school and early high school youth, the annual Black History Quiz Bowl will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Patterson Park Community Center, 521 Mercury Blvd.
The event provides the opportunity to engage the community in supporting the efforts of youngsters as they gain significant knowledge which will encourage further study.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Pi Nu Omega Chapter, will sponsor the event. For more details, contact Courtnei Secrest at 615-788-8318 or email courtsecrest@ gmail.com.
‘Raisin in the Sun’
“A Raisin in the Sun” will be on stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Feb. 13-14 and 20-21, and 2 p.m. Feb. 15 and Feb. 22 at Center for the Arts, 110 W. College St.
This award-winning drama portrays a few weeks in the lives of the Youngers, an African- American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950’s.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and students, and $11 for children. Discounts are available. Call 615-904-2787 or visit boroarts.org to purchase tickets.
Films on screen
Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center, in partnership with the Murfreesboro Branch of the NAACP, will host a series of films spotlighting Civil Rights.
At 7 p.m. Feb. 12, “The Freedom Riders” will be shown at the museum, 415 S. Academy St.
“Some of them were from Tennessee State University, some from Fisk University, some were from the American Baptist College. They went from all over the U.S. traveling from the North to the South to get the right to vote,” explained Katie Wilson with Bradley Academy Museum.
“Slavery with Another Name” will be show at 2 p.m.
Feb. 16, which is President’s Day as well as the 106th anniversary of the national NAACP, Wilson said.
“This film is telling about young people who were jailed for just walking on the street and they did time in prison without even committing a crime,” Wilson said.
Tours are also available for $1 for students and $5 for adults. Displays and dioramas are set up throughout the facility.
“But we encourage people just to tour, and it doesn’t have to be in February to do it,” Wilson said.
Other activities at Bradley Museum include: The month-long celebration features discussions of Brown v. The Board of Education, a panel discussion with community leaders and local police, and culminates with a jazz and blues performance by Nashville’s Al Green & The Hard Times.
Another special highlight of Black History Month at Bradley Museum is a photography exhibit and presentation from the great-grandchildren of King Ganaway, a native of Murfreesboro, who rose to prominence in the 1920’s as a prize-winning photographer.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, learn how the Brown v. Board of Education landmark decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 has impacted the past 60 years of education in the U.S. Nathaniel Briggs, a descendent of the original desegregation case, Briggs v. Elliott, will give a presentation.
Moderator is Mary Wade, former school board chair for Murfreesboro City Schools.
Comments on the impact of the case on education in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County will come from Dr. Linda Gilbert, director of Murfreesboro City Schools; Dr. Don Odom, director of Rutherford County Schools; and Wayne Blair, chairman of Rutherford County Board of Education. Light refreshments will be served.
The event is free and open to the public.
Descendants of celebrated 1920’s African-American photographer King Daniel Ganaway will have a presentation of his works at 11 a.m. Feb. 14.
Attendees have the chance to view Ganaway’s photos, which have not been displayed in more than 75 years, as well as learn of the family’s historical connection to Murfreesboro. Light refreshments will be served and the event is free and open to the public.
» Let’s Talk! is set for 4 p.m. Feb. 21. This event provides a platform for dialogue on issues that affect relations between the community and local law enforcement. The event is free and open to the public. Black History Month events at Bradley will culminate at 6 p.m. Feb. 27 with a night of jazz and blues featuring Al Green & The Hard Times. This group performs in many popular Nashville venues including Sambuca’s, B.B. King’s, and Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar. This will be the first in a series of after-work smooth jazz events that will be held the fourth Friday at Bradley Museum.
There is a $10 dollar cover charge for the performance, which includes a soul food buffet by locally owned D&J’s BBQ & Catering.
Check the museum’s website, bradleymuseum. com, for more information or call Brenda Walton at 615-4824413.
MTSU events
Middle Tennessee State University hosts events this month on campus.
» The annual Unity Luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Union Building on campus.
Bishop Joseph Walker III, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, will be the featured
speaker. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students and can be purchased online by visiting www.mtsu.edu/aahm/ unity-awards.php.
» Journalists who covered the shooting death of a black youth by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and its violent aftermath will discuss the challenges they faced at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Tucker Theater.
Admission is free.
Panelists for “From the Front Lines of Ferguson: Covering the New Civil Rights Movement” are St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer/ videographer David Carson, USAToday staff reporter Yamiche Alcindor and Antonio French, St. Louis alderman and social media reporter.
» Hill Harper, known for his work on “CSI: NY” and “Covert Affairs,” will be featured speaker at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the second floor ballroom of the Student Union.
Harper, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a law degree from Harvard University, also is the founder of the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to empowering underserved youth through mentorship, educational and motivational programs.
“He has been visiting campuses and talking about helping African-American males to progress through the college experience,” said Jonell Hinsey, director of MTSU’s Intercultural and Diversity Center and chair of the Black History Month Committee.
Other highlights include: » “Harlem Street Portraits,” an exhibition of photographs by Harvey Stein at the Baldwin Photographic Gallery through Feb. 26, second floor, John Bragg Mass Communication Building;
» “The ‘Hard Driving’ of NASCAR’s Wendell Scott: The Politics of African-American Survivability and Counter-Mobility,” 3 p.m. Tuesday, Room N116, Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building.
» The satirical “Dear White People” will be shown at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. showings Feb. 12-14, discussion to follow, second floor theater, Student Union.
» “What Does It Mean to be Black in America?,” a group discussion in the “Let’s Be Honest” series, 7 p.m. Feb. 17, Room 219, Monohan Hall.
» “House of Privilege,” an interactive activity enabling participants to experience different types of societal privilege, tours at the top of each hour from 1-6 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Tom Jackson Building.
» “From the Front Lines of Media: MTSU Alumnus Jeffery Reid on Media Diversity,” 5 p.m.
Feb. 23 in Room 160 of the College of Education Building;
» John Pleas Faculty Recognition Award Ceremony, honoring a leading African-American MTSU faculty member, will be held at 3 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Tom Jackson Building.
» “Soul Beats,” an African-American culture festival featuring music, art and stepping, is set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 28 at Patterson Park Community Center, 521 Mercury Blvd., Murfreesboro; All MTSU Black History Month events except for the Unity Luncheon, are free of charge. For more information, contact Hinsey at 615-8985797 or [email protected].
‘Grandma Anna and Me’
Local Author Nancy Vaughan will host a book signing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 12 at Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W.
Vine St.
She will sign and sell copies of her book, “Grandma Anna and Me, 1853.” She is also known for her historical research about First Baptist Church, East Castle Street.
Contact Nancy De Gennaro at 615-278-5148 or degennaro@ dnj.com. Follow her on Twitter @DNJMama.