Events honoring Black History Month have been taking place across the WSU system this month, with several more planned for the coming days and weeks.
Last week, Emmanuel Acho, creator of the “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” series gave the keynote address for this year’s MLK Program. WSU’s annual celebration of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. brings together members of the university community from across the system to carry forward his spirit through community service.
The university is welcoming Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natalie Diaz for a reading of her work as part of WSU’s Visiting Writers Series and Common Reading Program. Her poem, “American Arithmetic,” appears as a selection in this year’s common reading book, “Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation. The book is being used in numerous courses this year. The event begins at 6 p.m. Feb. 9 and is being broadcast on YouTube. More information about this and other Black History Month activities and events is available on WSU’s events website.
The African American Student Center is playing host to a Black Love Night at 5 p.m. on Feb. 14 and an MLK Trivia Night beginning at 4 p.m. Feb. 24.
On the WSU Tri-Cities Campus, a new monument honoring George Bush, the first Black pioneer in Washington Territory and his son William Owen Bush, who served in the first Washington State legislature, is being dedicated at 11 a.m. Feb. 15. WSU Tri-Cities Chancellor Sandra Haynes, African American Community Cultural and Educational Society representatives Vanessa and Leonard Moore, and Black Student Union leadership will give remarks as part of the dedication. The event will be facilitated by Kauser Gwaduri, MOSAIC Center for Student Inclusion coordinator.
A number of workshops and trainings are also scheduled for the month of February.
More information on WSU’s MLK program, including a list of upcoming events, is available online. Each WSU campus also maintains an events page, where more information about upcoming talks, presentations and workshops is available.
