Community Corner

5 Ways to Celebrate Black History Month Around Palmer/Forks

Black History Month programs are planned for Lafayette College, the Sigal Museum.

We've marked February as Black History Month in America for nearly 90 years. (Although it began as "Black History Week.") 

If you're interested in observing it in any way this year, here are some possibilities around Palmer and Forks Townships and Easton:

1. In 1906, a black man name Ed Johnson was convicted of raping a white woman in Tennessee and lynched. It's the type of thing that happened with horrible regularity in American history, but there are things about the case -- and its aftermath -- that made it unique.

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Find out more about this history-making court case with a talk Tuesday at Lafayette College by author Mark Curriden, whose book "Contempt of Court" explores Johnson's lynching.

That's due to happen at 5:30 p.m. in Kirby Hall of Civil Rights Room 100.

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Panelists include Wendy Wilson-Fall, associate professor of Africana studies at Lafayette; John Kincaid, Meyner Professor of Government and Public Service at Lafayette, and Philadelphia attorney Prince Altee Thomas.

2. At the same event, Easton's Boys & Girls Club will honor Greater Shiloh Church and its pastor Phillip Davis with the Brother Thomas Bright Ambassadors Award. 

3. Also at Lafayette College this month: Television host/activist Marc Lamont Hill will give a talk on contemporary politics and African-American leadership 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 at Colton Chapel.

4. The Sigal Museum will present a talk by Lehigh University's Dr. James Peterson, who will discuss "what is at stake in the cinematic re-imagining of African American history in the 21st Century." His talk is centered around two recent movies, Django Unchained and Lincoln

5. Learn on your own. Head to the Easton Area Public Library and check out some books. Here are some suggestions from author Christopher Paul Curtis, who notes that the lessons of these books aren't just "available in February, they should be taken advantage of year round."


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