UMaine Office for Diversity and Inclusion announces 2023 Black History Month events
Editor’s note: This story was updated Feb. 2.
The University of Maine Office for Diversity and Inclusion has organized Black History Month events throughout February, beginning with a Black Lives Matter flag raising at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 1 in the atrium on the first floor of the Memorial Union.
Later that day, the office will host Women of Color Wednesday, a monthly gathering held to create an uplifting space for women of color at UMaine through meaningful discussion and activities, at 6:30 p.m. in the Multicultural Student Center, Room 312 in the union.
On Feb. 8, a Lunch and Learn event about empowerment featuring Judith Josiah-Martin, principal lecturer with the Department of Social Work, will be held at noon in the Multicultural Student Center. The Office for Diversity and Inclusion will then host Tunes and Snacks: Celebrating Black Women’s History at noon on Feb. 9 in the Intersectional Feminist Resource Center, Room 227 in the Memorial Union.
A Paint N’ Sip event with the Black Student Union will be offered at 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Bear’s Den Pub in the Memorial Union. On Feb. 17, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion will host Bodies of Worth, an open conversation around the intersection of fatness, racism and assigning worth to bodies, at noon in the Rainbow Resource Center, Room 224 in the Memorial Union. The office also will continue its Solidarity Meeting for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) at UMaine, held every other Wednesday, this month at 3 p.m. on Feb. 8 and 22 in the Multicultural Student Center.
A Black Professionals and Students Mixer will be held at 4 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Multicultural Student Center. In partnership with the Black Student Union, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion also will host a Hair Care Fair with free cuts and styles for UMaine students starting at 9 a.m. Feb. 25 at the Woolley Room in the Doris Twitchell Allen Village, located next to Parking Services.
For information about the office’s Black History Month events, contact Anila Karunakar, director for Diversity and Inclusion, at anila.karunakar@maine.edu. The office also promotes events in its newsletter, subscription for which is available on its website.