Groups at Tufts have been sponsoring events celebrating black history since the January birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - specifically the address by Dr. Charles V. Willie, professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, entitled "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Perspectives on War and Peace."
More recently, Onyx, Tufts' black literary magazine, hosted its "Walk Through History" program Saturday focusing on black television sitcoms.
While the Africana Center sponsors events during the whole year, February is one of its busiest months. After Willie's address Jan. 25, the Africana Center officially kicked off Black History Month with "Black Violin" on Feb. 2, featuring two acclaimed black violinists playing a fusion of hip-hop and classical music and providing a unique background to rap lyrics played by a disc jockey.
From the last week of January to the first week of March, the Africana Center presented and is still presenting its annual film series, a six-week event with one to three movies about black culture every Wednesday at Tisch Library.
Some of these movies explored the hip-hop music industry and its political and social context, black street performers in New York City, misconceptions of hip-hop culture, and how hip-hop is seen and practiced in Colombia.
Movies shown included "8 Mile," starring Grammy-winning hip-hop artist Eminem, "Tupac: Resurrection," a documentary about the deceased rapper, and "Hip-Hop Homos," about two openly gay artists trying to succeed in the rap industry.
