CARRBORO, NC -- The Town of Carrboro is proud to recognize and celebrate Black people and Black history in Carrboro and across the nation during Black History Month.
We invite and encourage all Carrboro residents to participate in local Black History Month events and to learn about and celebrate the lives, history, and contributions of Black people during February and throughout the year.
Check out all the great events planned and organized by the Carrboro Recreation, Parks & Cultural Resources Department available at https://www.carrboronc.gov/2978/Black-History-Month
Carrboro Celebrates Black History Month - Our February Event Schedule Continues
Monday, Feb. 10 – African Americans and Labor, an evening with Dr. Michelle Laws and James Shields Jr.
- 6 to 8 p.m. at Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro NC 27510
- Dr. Michelle Laws is a dynamic leader, teacher, preacher, and public speaker who is known for her passionate and often provocative messages advocating for social justice, human rights, persons with mental illness, and poor women and children. Dr. Laws is a native of Chapel Hill, NC. She holds a PhD in social and behavioral sciences from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Department of Health Behavior and Policy (Phi Kappa Phi); master's degree in sociology from North Carolina Central University (Magna Cum Laude); and bachelor's degree in communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- James Shields is currently the manager of the African American Cultural Arts and History Center in Burlington, .NC. Prior to this latest appointment, he served for 20 years as the director of the Bonner Center for Community Service and Learning at Guilford College. James’ community involvement includes being board chairman for Snow Camp Historical Society, Elimu Empowerment services and the non-profit Motherland International. He currently serves as vice president of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society.
Sunday, Feb. 16 – Black History Month Concert featuring United Strings of Color
- 3 p.m. at Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro NC 27510
- Enjoy the same program that premiered at the NC Museum of Art on Feb. 1 - "Conversations Between Four Black Music Makers Who Helped Bring About Abolition." The program will invite a thoughtful consideration of Black history as it has either been remembered, or generally forgotten or hidden away, and explore some of the reasons why.
Through an immersive experience of Black history using music, theatre, and mixed media arts, the audience will learn about the lives, countries, times, systemic laws, and iconic contributions of four Black abolitionists. Using a theatrical construct to place our abolitionists together, youth actors representing Ignatius Sancho, (1729 – 1780), Joseph Bologne, (1745 – 1799), Solomon Northrup, (1807/8 – 1864), and Frederick Douglass, (1818 -1895), will discuss their lives as Black creatives who fought with the pen, the ballot, the sword and the bullet, to directly affect laws and the dominant thought of their day.
The audience will be invited to come early to begin immersion in the lives and times of our abolitionists through video, slides, photographs, period dance, and sword fencing. Using our partners Forge Fencing and the Frederick Douglass Foundation, audiences will be brought into an earlier time and place. As this project will generate discussion, following the formal presentation the audience will be invited to converse with our musical Black abolitionists and engage further in the discoveries the production uncovers.
Saturday, Feb. 22 – Health & Wellness Fair
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro NC 27510
- Join us for the 2024 Health & Wellness Fair. All ages are welcome to this free community event. Gain knowledge and receive information about best practices for a healthy lifestyle. There will be health screenings, blood pressure checks, food and raffles.
Sunday, Feb. 23 – Jeghetto in “Real American History: by Jim Crow the Puppet”
- 2 p.m. at The Drakeford Library Complex 203 S. Greensboro St., Carrboro NC 27510
- Tarish Pipkins a.k.a. Jeghetto has fine-tuned his skills by doing street performances with his puppets. He has worked with Paperhand Puppet Intervention. He has built puppets and performed in several Paperhand productions. Jeghetto has had the pleasure to work with national recording artist, Missy Elliott on her music video, WTF (Where They From) controlling the Pharell puppet and doing some puppet building. He also worked on the Amazon Echo commercial featuring Missy Elliott and Alec Baldwin as puppets.
- The cost for this event is $3 with children 12 months and under admitted free. Children and adults alike will be amazed.
Sunday, Feb. 23 – Black History Month Concert featuring Emmanuel Howard
- 4 p.m. at Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St., Carrboro NC 27510
- Emmanuel Howard is a native of Charlotte, NC, and at the age of nine began his musical journey learning the guitar, then picked up the alto saxophone, transforming his musical trajectory. During this time, he played in various ensembles between school, church and with the community music program, Community School of the Arts in marching, concert, symphonic, and jazz bands. He has collaborated musically alongside musicians and educators such as Branford Marsalis, Joey Calderazzo, and Tia Fuller. Currently he performs with various bands throughout the area, such as jAndr and Peridot Sun and plans to release his first self-produce album in mid 2025.
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