2025 Black History Month Events & Resources
The UIC Black Cultural Center (BCC) is hosting several events this February for Black History Month 2025. This year’s theme is “African Americans and Labor” which encourages everyone to reflect on the history, culture and contributions of Black People’s work across time and throughout the African Dispora.
All events will take place in the BCC Gallery in Adams Hall (AH) 209.
Wednesday, February 5
10am – 11am: Wellness Wednesday
12:30pm – 2pm: Lunch and Learn with the DuSable Scholars
Thursday, February 6
4:30pm – 9pm: Footwork Lecture, Performance and Workshop
Friday, February 7
10am – 11am: What’s Going On?
Tuesday, February 11
1pm – 2pm: Speak Easy: Study Writing Workshop Series with the UIC Library Undergraduate Engagement Program
Wednesday, February 12
12pm – 1pm: Black Table Talk
Thursday, February 13
12pm – 2pm: “Bloodlines at the Box Office: Exploring Black Family and Black Adoption Through The Woman King” facilitated by Black to the Beginning
Tuesday, February 18
Time & Location TBA: Farmers’ Market with CCUSC Heritage Garden and UIC Catering/Sodexo Magic
Wednesday, February 19
12:30pm – 2pm: Lunch and Learn with the DuSable Scholars
6pm – 7pm: Dispora “Wars”?: Bridging Conversations and Perspectives
Thursday, February 20
12pm – 1pm: The Black and Polynesian Panthers with the Pacific Islander Think Tank
5:30pm – 7:30pm: Black Alumni Networking Event with Umoja Black Legacy Alumni Coalition
Wednesday, February 26
12pm – 1pm: Black Table Talk
Thursday, February 27
7pm – 9pm: Open Mic hosted by DJ John West
For more information and questions about accessibility, please visit: https://blacc.uic.edu/
—
UIC Gallery 400 will be hosting the following events for Black History Month 2025:
Eve L. Ewing on “Original Sins”
Tuesday, February 18
5pm – 6:30pm (CST)
UIC Location TBD
Join UIC’s Gallery 400, Black Studies Department and Women’s Leadership and Resource Center for a reading and talk by distinguished author and cultural organizer Eve L. Ewing of her latest book Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism. The book traces the history of the American education system, revealing how it was never neutral but deliberately designed to sustain racial inequality and hierarchies. Ewing interrogates the historical foundations of this system from the Founding Fathers’ vision of America and demonstrates how education was used as a tool to enforce white intellectual superiority, “civilize” Native students and prepare Black students for menial labor and how these inequities persist today.
For more information, please visit: https://gallery400.uic.edu/event/eveewing/
Tonika Lewis Johnson & Maria Krysan on “Don’t Go: Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It”
Thursday, February 20
5pm – 6:30pm (CST)
UIC Gallery 400 Lecture Room
400 S. Peoria Steeet
Join UIC’s Gallery 400 for a talk by Chicago-based artist Tonika Lewis Johnson and UIC Sociology Professor Maria Krysan about their recently published book Don’t Go: Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It. In it, they examine the racism behind the advice to avoid Chicago’s South and West side neighborhoods. From interviews with Chicago residents, they show how deeply ingrained stereotypes about safety and violence shape perceptions of predominantly Black and Hispanic communities. They delve into ways these biases are passed down through generations and how individuals—both native Chicagoans and expats—navigate their own confrontations with racial fear.
For more information, please visit: https://gallery400.uic.edu/event/tonikaandmaria/
—
Additional Black History Month 2025 events at UIC, including the Justice Lens Film Series hosted by the Social Justice Initiative (SJI), can be found here: https://today.uic.edu/uic-black-history-month-2025-events/
—
The 28 Days of Black Excellence podcast has released a new episode highlighting the work of certified nurse-midwife Karie Stewart.
The podcast, created by Aisha El-Amin, PhD, executive associate vice provost for student success and belonging at UIC, explores the UIC and post-graduation experiences of Black alumni, with a focus on their fondest memories, stories of resilience and advice for the current and future generations of Black and African descent students, faculty and staff.
In 2019, Karie founded Melanated Midwives, a nonprofit organization that provides financial support to students of color training to be midwives. Her mission is to diversify the midwifery workforce and promote inclusive, equitable care for all communities. She has since expanded that mission to include diversifying the community health care worker and doula workforce by partnering with other local Black woman-led community organizations.
You can listen to the new episode here: https://today.uic.edu/podcast/black-excellence-karie-stewart/
—
Finally, UIC profiled the winners of its 2023-2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarships here: https://today.uic.edu/mlks-hope-for-service-reflected-in-uic-scholarship-winners/