Queens Public Library celebrates Black History Month by presenting more than 100 events that celebrate African American artists, directors, musicians, performers, politicians, writers, and others in February.
Activities include art workshops, book talks with bestselling authors, concerts, movie screenings, panel discussions, and theater performances.
The schedule follows.
Feb. 1 to Feb. 29
Ralph McDaniels, who co-produced and co-hosted the long-running Video Music Box television program, is currently QPL’s Hip Hop Coordinator. He has curated Hip Hop Art and Culture at Central Library, 89-11 Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica. The exhibition is on display all month, and an opening reception with live music by The Elite Band is set for Thursday, Feb. 8, at 6 pm.
Feb. 1 to Feb. 29
McDaniels also curated QPL Black History Month FilmFest, which will screen 15 films — Stormy Weather, Lady Sings the Blues, Boom for Real, The Wiz, Little Richard: I Am Everything, Shaft, One Night in Miami, Daughters of the Dust, Fresh Dressed, Big George Foreman, Amazing Grace: Aretha Franklin, The Five Heartbeats, Black Panther, Juice, and Cooley High. Click here for dates, times, and locations.
Feb. 7
Several architects and interior designers will discuss their work, inspirations, artistic processes, and professional journeys in an industry where very few African American women work during Brick, Mortar, Home, Hearth—A Conversation With Architects & Interior Designers at Central Library, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 6 pm. QPL Library Planner and Capital Project Management Chantel Antoine will moderate the panel with interior designers Keita Turner and Kesha Franklin and architects Zevilla Jackson Preston and Elizabeth Graziolo.
Feb. 8
Fashion will be the topic at the Black Milliners, Their Designs, And Hands-On Formal Headwear workshops at East Elmhurst Library, 95-06 Astoria Blvd., on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 4 pm.
Designer and milliner Kathy Anderson will share the history and work of early Black milliners and how they reinterpreted the styles of the day. Participants will view some of Anderson’s designs in a mini-exhibition of hats made with unusual materials over the past 20 years. Following the talk, Anderson will lead a workshop during which participants will make formal headwear called a “fascinator.” Materials will be provided for up to 15 adult participants. Registration required.
On the same day but online, biographer Jonathan Eig will discuss King: A Life, the first major biography in decades of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. Participants can join the 6 pm conversation via Microsoft Teams here.
Feb. 15
QPL will host Carnival Festival Arts: From Africa To The Americas, a virtual panel featuring historians, masqueraders, designers, and artists from Brazil, New Orleans, and Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6 pm. They will explore the African traditions embedded in Mardi Gras as well as the history of resistance, spirituality, activism, celebration of creativity, and freedom from Africa to the Americas that shaped the festival in the Diaspora. Columbia University scholar Charles Daniel Dawson will moderate this online chat, and panelists include economist and historian Gail Yvette Davis, award-winning choreographer, dancer and singer Silvana Magda, and musician Donald Harrison Jr. who’s Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group. Register here.
Feb. 20
Charmaine Wilkerson will discuss her debut book Black Cake, which was adapted into an Oprah-produced Hulu series, at South Jamaica Library, 108-41 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 1 pm.
Black Cake, which was also picked by Jenna Bush Hager for her book club Read with Jenna on the NBC’s Today show, delves into themes of sexual identity and family connections as it tells a story of a Caribbean family forever changed by the secrets of its matriarch. Books will be available for sale and signing.
Feb. 22
The public will be able to participate in a Hip Hop Fashion Panel Discussion at Central Library’s Plaza, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 6 pm. Panelists Elena Romero, Assistant Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology and co-author of Fresh Fly Fabulous: 50 Years of Hip Hop Style, and Sowmya Krishnamurthy, music journalist and author of Fashion Killa: How Hip-Hop Revolutionized High Fashion, will discuss the connection between the Hip Hop and the fashion industry. Following the conversation, there will be a fashion show curated by Jackie Love of Jamaica-based non-profit JLove Fashion School of Etiquette with music by DJ Stokes. Those unable to attend in-person can watch the program on Instagram Live: instagram.com/qplny.
Feb. 29
Kimberli Gant will host Art Of The African Diaspora: One Curator’s Journey at the Langston Hughes Library and Cultural Center, 100-01 Northern Blvd. in Corona, on Thursday, Feb. 29, at 6 pm. The Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Brooklyn Museum will discuss her career, struggles, and inspirations. Gant curated the Spike Lee: Creative Sources exhibit, which is currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum.