LEWISTON, Idaho – A performance by Chad Goller-Sojourner, a lecture by Derek Adams, film screenings and other talks highlight the activities during Black History Month in February at Lewis-Clark State College.
All events are free and open to the public.
Goller-Sojourner is a Seattle-based writer, solo-performer and recipient of a Washington State Arts Commission Performing Arts Fellowship. His work has been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and featured on National Public Radio. In June of 2018, he debuted his third solo performance: “Marching in Gucci: Memoirs of a Well-Dressed Black AIDS Activist,” which he will perform on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at the LC State Silverthorne Theatre. The performance discusses the AIDS epidemic that was a national crisis in the 1990s and how some of those fears and prejudices can still be seen in today’s society.
Goller-Sojourner, who is a transracial family coach in Seattle, also will discuss transracial adoption at 6 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, located at 731 8th St. in Lewiston.
Adams is an associate professor of English and African-American literature at Ithaca College. As a certified facilitator of intergroup dialogue, he is also invested in the role literature can play in creating inclusive learning environments. He will lecture on “The Only Grace You Can Have is the Grace You can Imagine: Reflecting on the Legacy of Toni Morrison” on Feb. 10 at noon in Room 100 of Meriwether Lewis Hall on the LC State campus. The title of the lecture is from Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Beloved,” and focuses on the longstanding stakes people of color face when articulating blackness in the United States.
Other events during the month include film screenings on Feb. 13 and 27. On Feb. 13, the film “13th” will show at 7 p.m. at the Telecommunications Classroom inside the LC State library. The film explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the nation’s prisons and the high number of African-Americans inmates. A student panel discussion will follow. On Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Silverthorne Theatre, “Breaking the Silence: Lilian Smith” will be shown. Smith was one of the first white southern authors to crusade against segregation.
Sarah Graham, an assistant professor of music at LC State, will have a public lecture on “Minstrelsy: Constructing an Understanding of Modern American Music and Entertainment” on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.
On Feb. 26, KLEW TV reporter Rasheeda Kabba will discuss “Diversity in Media: Navigating Your Platform.” Her discussion will be held at the LC State Center for Arts & History, located at 415 Main St. in Lewiston, and will begin at 6 p.m.
Sponsors for the month include Rosehill Estates, the LC State Center for Arts & History, the Silverthorne Series, TourWest, Episcopal Church of the Nativity, and the LC State Humanities Division. Organizers for the events include Graham, Marlow Daly-Galeano, and Amy Minervini, all with the Humanities Division, JeaDa Lay, ASLCSC vice president, and Debi Fitzgerald, director of the Center for Arts & History.
For more information on any of the events, contact Graham at [email protected].