{"id":1346,"date":"2020-02-19T11:53:46","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T16:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/hsslibrary\/?p=1346"},"modified":"2020-06-11T09:04:54","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T13:04:54","slug":"black-history-month-at-mcgill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/hsslibrary\/black-history-month-at-mcgill\/","title":{"rendered":"Black History Month at McGill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout February, the McGill Community joins many others in celebrating Black History Month.<\/p>\n

The 2020 celebrations across the University, city and country encompass many themes. A common thread throughout this year’s themes is exploring the past in order to understand the present and build a better future.<\/p>\n

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Black History Month aims to celebrate and centre Blackness throughout the history, the present, and the future of McGill and beyond.<\/p><\/div>\n

McGill\u2019s theme for this year is Rooted, an exploration of the rooted past, present and future of Black history and communities. There are many events happening across campus and in collaboration with organizations across the city of Montreal, where the theme for this year\u2019s 29th<\/sup> edition of Black History Month is \u201cIci et Maintenant! \/ Here and Now!\u201d celebrating the voices and activism of young people from the African diaspora.<\/p>\n

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Poster for Montreal’s “Mois de l’histoire des noirs”, by Lucky Odige<\/p><\/div>\n

Canada\u2019s Black History Month theme is inspired by the United Nations\u2019 International Decade for People of African Descent. \u201cCanadians of African Descent: Going Forward, Guided by the Past\u201d is represented by the sankofa bird, an important symbol of the African diaspora that represents the need to reflect on the past in order to build a successful future.<\/p>\n

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Every February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present. The 2020 theme for Black History Month is: “Canadians of African Descent: Going forward, guided by the past.” This was inspired by the theme of the United Nations\u2019 International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024).<\/p><\/div>\n

This year\u2019s programming will also honour Toni Morrison in light of her passing on August 5th<\/sup>, 2019. Toni Morrison was an American novelist, essayist, book editor, and college professor. Her first novel,\u00a0The Bluest Eye<\/em><\/a>, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed\u00a0Song of Solomon<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1977) brought her national attention and won the\u00a0National Book Critics Circle Award<\/a>. In 1988, Morrison won the\u00a0Pulitzer Prize<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Beloved<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(1987); she gained worldwide recognition when she was awarded the\u00a0Nobel Prize in Literature<\/a>\u00a0in 1993. Her contributions to literature and politics<\/p>\n

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Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931 \u2013 August 5, 2019)<\/p><\/div>\n

The library has created a LibGuide highlighting parts of the collection that support and expand on these themes. This new LibGuide will be a place to find information on all future Redpath Book Displays, from bibliographies to YouTube videos.<\/p>\n