Black History Month

February 12, 2026, 5:00 pm, CHC Events Hall. 

For its Annual Black Heritage Month Celebration, Commonwealth Honors College welcomes groundbreaking presenters who are working at the intersection of art praxis, racial justice, and the embodiment of change as pathways to liberation. This year we welcome Dr. Daphne Lamothe, provost and professor of Africana Studies at Smith College. Her research and teaching explore Black consciousness, identity, and cultural belonging through topics like the Harlem Renaissance, migration narratives, and urban Black experiences.

The Black AF Conference Planning Committee invites you to join them February 21, 2026 for the Black Artistic Freedom Conference. Events include the W.E.B. DuBois Poetry Slam Invitational, an Education, Arts, and Activism Symposium, and more. The keynote speaker is J. Ivy, two time Grammy Award winning poet and author.

A Special Lecture by Dr. Whitney Battle-Baptiste
February 19, 2026 12:00 pm | W. E. B. Du Bois Library, Room 2220

This talk will describe how and why Du Bois remains such an important voice, despite being dead for over sixty years. It will explore the ways his life and words can help us find a way through our current moment of uncertainty and unrest. It will describe the work that is being done to promote and preserve his incredible legacy in places like Ghana, New York, Great Barrington, and right here at UMass Amherst.

Black History Month Keynote Lecture by Dr. Stefan M. Bradley
February 23, 2026 6:30 pm | Amherst Room, 10th Floor Campus Center
Responding to the August 2014 police shooting death of their peer, Michael Brown, Jr., young Black people in Ferguson, Missouri showed the world what democracy looks like.  They organized and protested to expose racial capitalism and the blatant violations of their Constitutional rights. They threatened decision-makers that if they didn't get their freedom, they would shut down the system.  The efforts those young demonstrators made on the ground and in the political sphere provide a model for the modern moment.

The Malcolm X Cultural Center was established in 1971 to provide space for social gathering, educational speakers and courses, and political engagement through the Black Caucus. Originally known as the Malcolm X Room, it served an important role in the social wellbeing of Black students at a time when universities across the nation were recruiting students of color but were not well equipped to support their transition to college. Today's MXCC shares a similar mission in its original location, in the basement of Berkshire Dining Common. 

In the Afro-American Studies Department you'll gain skills in project development, research and analysis, interpersonal and cross-cultural communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and writing. The undergraduate degree in Afro-American studies will prepare you for the complex challenges that face our communities, our country, and the world in the 21st century.  

Augusta Savage Gallery, located in New Africa House at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is a multicultural and multiarts facility. Named in honor of renowned sculptor Augusta Savage, the gallery was founded in 1970 by the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies. Its mission is to promote artistic works from a broad spectrum of cultures. Exhibits are selected for their aesthetic integrity and their ability to enlighten the viewer on such issues as race, ethnicity, class, and cultural identity.