University of Kentucky organizations will be hosting events throughout the month of February to celebrate Black History Month for students and faculty to participate in. Events ranging from discussions, speeches, and even a fashion show are to take place, most events taking place over zoom calls with the exception of a few. All events and Zoom links may be found on the Martin Luther King Center page on the university website or BBNvolved.

Love In All Colors

Honing in on relationships, the Office of LGBTQ* Resources and the Martin Luther King Center will collaborate to show ‘Monogamy Explained’ & ‘How the Economy Shapes Our Love Lives’ virtually on Feb. 11. With a new initiative named Shades of Pride, the goal of providing a safe space for QTPOC (Queer, Trans, People of Color) and their allies BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) is the primary focus of the event. With a similar mentality of Men of Color, to celebrate identity, build community, engage in dialogue, and find support the LGBTQ* and MLKC open their arms to all those interested.

Bernice King: Woman of Virtue

Taking place on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. the Martin Luther King Center and UK Student Activities Board (SAB) will host an annual Black History Month speaker, Bernice King. With a background in ministry, law, and being an author, the youngest child of the late civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King will share her efforts of educating her peers about nonviolent principles, the same ones modeled by her parents. The event will be available to attend in person at the Worsham Center or online with zoom.

Life As a Black Women With Media

This event, named ‘Invisible, Yet Visible: Black Women & Media’, will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23. “The purpose of this event is to recognize the stereotypes that Black women face and how not only media has influenced these stereotypes, but also how history plays an instrumental role as well,” said Black is Gold President Kennedy Brown. Hosted by the Black is Gold organization, whose main focus is providing community outreach to young women of color.

“We hope that all attendees can take away a better sense of what can be done to decrease the negative stereotypes facing Black women and celebrate their successes over the years,” said Brown.

UK Libraries

UK Libraries is featuring a series of archives highlighting Black history and culture. Curated by Daneila Gamez and Adrianna Navia, an online exhibit showcases “Black contributions to bourbon, horse racing, STEM, and athletics, as well as civil rights activists, notable Black UK graduates or faculty, centers/museums and Kentuckians who championed legislation.” The Black Teacher Archive will be featured in an open house on Feb. 19 with records from the journals of “Colored Teachers Associations.” The library is also hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon and a special podcast featuring excerpts from an interview with Lyman T. Johnson, the student who broke the color barrier at UK.

History Through a Fashion Show

To wrap up the month, an in person fashion show will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26. The show being called, ‘The Art of Being: Black History Fashion Show’ will take place in the Gatton Student Center in Ballroom C. The theme is fashion of the African race. Such examples of traditional wear and retro streetwear will be highlighted in the show. Cofounder and co-president Brandy Jackson mentioned the partnerships with

local vendors, Atlanta Black owned vendors, and even some from overseas. “We want to make our organization definitely for everybody,” said cofounder and co-president Yasmin Ogundepo. “We want everybody to be able to notice us, get to know us, and what we’re about.”

Black Women’s Conference

Convening for its 26th year, the Black Women’s Conference will be held virtually the final week of February. Hosted by the Commonwealth of Black Institute for Black Studies and College of Arts & Sciences, two-day series will feature a keynote address from Nalo Hopkinson, a Jamaican-born fiction writer. The second day will showcase the conference theme – “Literature, Digital Media, and the Afrofuture” with a community gaming event held on Twitch.