Black History Month at MCPL
February is Black History Month, and MCPL has online resources, books, and events to help you learn and celebrate!
If you’re looking to explore and research online we’ve got some wonderful, authoritative resources for you.
The Oxford African-American Studies Center contains over 6,000 biographies, more than 10,000 articles, and hundreds of maps, documents, images, timelines, and charts and tables of African-American life, history, and culture.
The African American Times, later the Montgomery Times, archives cover seven years of the first Prince Georges and later Montgomery County-based newspaper that covered subjects of interest to the county’s Black community. The paper ceased publication in 2002. Read the archives here.
Black History Month 2023 Events
Join us for several events celebrating Black History Month, featuring local experts and community gatherings discussing Black history, arts and culture, civil rights, and social justice.
2/1-28, The Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project’s “It Happened in Rockville: Remembering Two Lynchings,” exhibit displayed at the Wheaton branch.
The exhibit, launched in collaboration with Peerless Rockville and Montgomery History, memorializes and honors two men who were lynched in Rockville—John Diggs-Dorsey in 1880 and Sidney Randolph in 1896. It also honors George Peck, who was lynched in Poolesville in 1880.
2/2, Play Jeopardy! – Virtual – In celebration of Black History Month
2/4, Afrofuturism Film Series: Nope at Quince Orchard Library
2/7, Mae’s Space Shuttle: Black History Month Discovery Station at Twinbrook Library
2/8, Black History Month Author Talk – – Virtual – Twelve Rebels Hidden in Washington DC by Tony Spadafora
2/10, What To Read Next – Virtual
In recognition of Black History Month we will review MCPL resources to find your next great books related to American American literature.
2/10, Art at the Library: Basquiat at Gaithersburg Library
2/11, Afrofuturism Film Series: The Book of Eli at Davis Library
2/11, Afrofuturism Film Series: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at Aspen Hill Library
2/11, Afrofuturism Film Series: Black Panther at White Oak Library
2/15, Differing Historical Perspectives on Slavery in Maryland and the District of Columbia, Rockville Memorial Library and Virtual
2/15, Maryland Freedom Seekers on the Underground Railroad with author Jenny Masur at Brigadier General Charles E. McGee
2/16, African American Book Discussion at Rockville Memorial Library
In February the group will discuss the book The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright
2/17, Author Talk Dr. Karen B. Cook-Bell – Virtual – Running from Bondage
2/18, Black History: a Living Resistance in Dance and Movement at Aspen Hill Library
2/18, Afrofuturism Film Series: A Wrinkle in Time at Kensington Park Library
2/18, Afrofuturism Film Series: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at Germantown Library.
2/18, Afrofuturism Film Series: Nope at Wheaton Library
2/18, Afrofuturism Film Series: Jordan Peele’s Get Out at Chevy Chase Library
2/18, Afrofuturism Film Series: Soul at Connie Morella Library
2/18, Afrofuturism Film Series: I am Legend at Little Falls Library
2/18, National African American Read-In at Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library
2/18, Shades of Brown Rainbow at Rockville Memorial Library
2/19, Afrofuturism Film Series: Soul at Damascus Library
2/21, Alma’s Circles: Black History Month Discovery Station at Twinbrook Library
2/23, Afrofuturism Film Series: A Wrinkle in Time at Olney Library
2/23, Rockville Library Book Discussion, Virtual
Join us for a discussion of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is also available in e-book format through Overdrive.
Limited print copies are available for pick up at the information desk, at Rockville library.
2/23, Contemporary Conversations with bestselling author Sheree Renée Thomas – Afrofuturism and Diversity in Sci-Fi
2/25, Will Adams, Fiddler of Ken-Gar with Julianne Mangin at Germantown Library
2/26, Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Discussion at Rockville Memorial Library and virtual
The book for February is Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi. Tochi Onyebuchi is a Nigerian American science fiction and fantasy writer. His novella, Riot Baby, received an Alex Award from the American Library Association and the World Fantasy Award in 2021. He is known for incorporating civil rights and Afrofuturism into his stories and novels. Limited copies are available for pick up at the Rockville Memorial Library at the 1st floor customer service desk. This novel is also available in e-book format through Overdrive and e-audio book format through Hoopla. You may attend this program in person at the Rockville Memorial Library, in the 2nd floor meeting room.
2/27, Art at the Library: Alma Thomas at Olney Library
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