Past Events

Event Date and Time: Wednesday, April 8, 2026 - 12:30 pm - Wednesday, April 8, 2026 - 2:00 pm
Location: Tawes Hall, 2115

The Department of African American and Africana Studies and The John B. Slaughter Endowment Lecture Series with The Center for Literary and Comparative Studies Present Book Discussion with John Drabinski and Michael Sawyer.

Join us for a discussion and celebration marking the recent release of John Drabinski’s three books: Atlantic Theory (Edinburgh), So Unimaginable a Price (Northwestern), and At the Margins of Nihilism (Fordham). Along with a short presentation, Michael Sawyer (University of Pittsburgh) will host a Q&A, exploring key ideas in the three books and how they illuminate themes of history, memory, and culture in the Black Studies tradition.

Learn more here.

College of Arts and Humanities | David C. Driskell Center for the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora
Thursday, March 26, 2026 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm  Cole Student Activities Building

Please join us on Thursday, March 26, for an afternoon and evening of programming celebrating African American art and scholarship. The day will begin at 4 p.m. with an artist talk, "Hither and Yon," by Alison Saar, winner of the High Museum’s 2025 David C. Driskell Prize, who will discuss her practice with members of our community, followed by a tea reception from 5–6 p.m.

The evening program will begin at 6 p.m. with the presentation of the 2026 Porter/Driskell Book Award in African American Art History (winner to be announced shortly), a special documentary preview, and the Driskell Distinguished Lecture, delivered this year by Dr. Cherise Smith, Joseph D. Jamail Chair in African American Studies in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.

Free and open to the public. 

Learn more and register here.

Arts for All | College of Arts and Humanities | The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Thursday, March 12, 2026 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm  Busboys and Poets Hyattsville

About the Event
Join us in honoring the centennial of Langston Hughes’ seminal poetry collection, "The Weary Blues" (1926) through a poetic Nebraska-Baltimore tribute. Hosted by the youngest and first ever African American State Poet of Nebraska Jewel Rodgers, and featuring acclaimed poets, educators and organizers–Noni Williams, Joël Díaz, Lady Brion, Ephraim Nehemiah and Black Chakra. This event will take place at Busboys and Poets (5331 Baltimore Ave, Hyattsville, MD 20781.)

2026 marks 100 years since the publication of Langston Hughes’ seminal poetry collection "The Weary Blues." In celebration of this remarkable volume, Dream Keepers gathers poets from Nebraska and Baltimore to connect Hughes’s legacy with contemporary Black culture. Through this cross-regional exchange, Dream Keepers pays tribute to Hughes’ contributions–as poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, activist–as well as to his deep kinship with the people he wrote for and about.

Learn more and register here.

College of Arts and Humanities | The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies |
Department of African American and Africana Studies
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm  Taliaferro Hall, 1126

Practicing Possibility
In our current time, it is urgent that we not just dream/imagine a different future, but that we also cultivate a practice of collectivity, care, and critique that develops the muscle for world building.

This year the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department’s sixth observance of Harriet Tubman Day, organized in collaboration with the Department of African American and Africana Studies, is also a celebration of the 20th Anniversary of our joint degree program, the Black Women’s Studies Minor.

Learn more and register.

Monday, March 9, 2026 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm | Virtual

In this lecture, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Stephanie Shonekan will explore five songs that African American communities consistently cite as sites of worship—songs that function as prayer, testimony, and praise even when they emerge outside formal religious spaces. Drawing from Black sacred and secular traditions, as well as popular music, the talk examines how these songs carry theological meaning through sound, memory, and collective feeling. As part of a larger project on African American love songs, the lecture argues that love—of God, of community, of self—remains a central mode through which African Americans have journeyed through American history.

Learn more and register here.

College of Arts and Humanities
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan will discuss her book Sorrow, Tears and Blood at People's Book in Takoma Park. This is an opportunity to learn more about Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti and Shonekan's scholarship. Fela Kuti's album Sorrow, Tears and Blood offers a glimpse into the complicated social, cultural and political phenomenon that is Nigeria.

Learn more and RSVP here.

Makaya McCraven is a prolific drummer, composer, producer and trailblazer in the world of new music. McCraven's longtime relationship with the Chicago-based independent record company International Anthem (IA) has helped establish them as one of the industry's most innovative labels. McCraven has released nine full-length recordings as bandleader on IA in the past decade, crafting an important cornerstone for a fresh direction in jazz that more fully incorporates the complex influences of rock, classical, hip-hop, R&B, trance, African traditional and—perhaps most importantly—remix culture. His work as digital artist meshing disparate sounds and impulses inspired We're New Again, an ingenious reimagining of the work of Gil Scott Heron. The New York Times calls McCraven "one of the best arguments for jazz’s vitality... an endlessly compelling drummer, whose interests include the more hypnotic properties of groove." His latest LP, 2022's In These Times, was listed as one of the top ten releases of the year by NPR Music. 2025 marks the expanded re-release of his 2015 debut album on IA, In The Moment, and a continued drive toward the recreation of what contemporary music is forever becoming. Don't miss the opportunity to see that future now, live at The Clarice.

Learn more and buy tickets here.

Join us as we celebrate Black History Month 2026! The UMD community has curated an engaging and exciting array of programs and events for Black History Month - BHM 2026! Visit this page regularly to stay updated on newly promoted programs.

See the Program and Event Calendar here.

For more than fifty years, the multiple Grammy Award-nominated a cappella women's choir Sweet Honey in the Rock®️ has maintained an active role at the global forefront of Black empowerment, entertainment and education. Founded by the late historian, social activist and singer Bernice Johnson Reagon, the ensemble's concerts offer a positive, loving and socially conscious spirit, held aloft by masterful choral singing. Sweet Honey in the Rock's Celebrating the Holydays is a unique fusion of traditional American holiday spirituals, hymns and inspirational songs that intentionally incorporates holy and celebratory music by cultures and religions from around the world, all blended with thematic elements of hip-hop, folk and pop music. This special presentation of good tidings for the season has been honed to perfection over a decade of touring. You'll hear classics including “Jesus, What a Wonderful Child” and “Silent Night,” alongside popular band favorites like “We Are,” “Let There Be Peace” and “Chinese Proverb.” In an effort toward greater audience inclusivity, Sweet Honey prioritizes ASL interpretation at every performance. Celebrating the Holydays will feature vocalists Louise Robinson, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil and Carol Maillard; bassist Romeir Mendez; and American Sign Language interpreter Barbara Hunt.

Learn more and buy tickets here.

Join the BSU-UMD Social Justice Alliance, 2nd Lt. Richard W. Collins III Foundation and the Mission Continues as we honor the life and legacy of Lt. Richard Collins III through a day of service, reflection, and community impact. Volunteers will come together at City Ranch, under the direction of Cowboy Brandt, to build benches, clean up the grounds, and help map out new hiking trails in dedication to this courageous soldier’s memory. Whether you are a student, faculty or staff member, veteran, community member, or supporter, your participation helps ensure that Lt. Collins’ legacy of courage and compassion continues to live on through meaningful action. Let’s serve and build together! 

Learn more here.

Monday, December 1, 2025 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
0107 St. Mary’s Hall, International Film Lounge

As part of the F25 LH International Film Series, the Arabic Cluster presents Empire M(إمبراطورية ميم). Experience Arabic language and culture through cinema and join us for an evening of cross-cultural dialogue and community engagement.

Learn more here.

Arabic | College of Arts and Humanities | Language House | School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Wednesday, November 19, 2025 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
HJ Patterson, 3135

One of the classics of Egyptian cinema, Cairo Station is a psychological thriller that’s part neorealist and part film noir set in and around Cairo’s central train station.

The film will be shown with subtitles, and light refreshments will be provided. 

Learn more and RSVP here.

Please join us for a Local Americanists during which Professor Tess Chakkalakal will discuss her recently published book, A Matter of Complexion: The Life & Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt (St. Martin's Press, 2025).

Learn more and RSVP here.

Nov. 14-Nov. 21, 2025 | The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center 

A biographical tale of country life upended by the Vietnam War, Samm-Art Williams’ Tony Award-winning play follows a young Black farm owner and his indomitable spirit as he leans on faith, love, and the pull of the land in the face of losing everything, including himself.

Assistant Professor KenYatta Rogers (director of previous TDPS productions "Stick Fly," "Men on Boats," and “Metamorphoses") directs this exciting and thought-provoking play offering insight into the rural Black experience about one man’s journey to find fulfillment.

Learn more here.

Thursday, November 13, 2025 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Jimenez Hall, 1205

Lecture Title: Childish Bodies: From Invisible Traffick to Visible Debt

Summary: This 30-minute lecture explores the trafficking of Black children into the U.S. South after the Haitian Revolution, raising the question: How could the world’s first Black republic, founded in freedom, see its children sold abroad? Placing Haiti within the framework of “second slavery,” I extend Dale Tomich’s insights on the plantation and global capitalism to the Haitian case. Within a year of independence, French forces in Santo Domingo trafficked free-born Haitian children to the Carolinas in exchange for rice, aided by U.S. neutrality and British blockades. Drawing on Haitian laws, newspapers, runaway ads, and military reports, I argue that Haiti’s struggle against slavery did not end in 1804 but continued into its first decade of independence.

Learn more here.

Monday, November 3, 2025 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Gildenhorn Recital Hall

Sherrilyn Ifill, professor of law and founding director of the 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy at Howard University, will deliver a Douglass Center for Leadership Through the Humanities public lecture on the 14th Amendment and the Crises in American Democracy. Professor Ifill's decades-long leadership in centering humanity in the law, combined with UMD’s selection of the Constitution as our First Year Book and the current and ongoing attacks on due process and birthright citizenship makes this an important moment to hear her analysis on this amendment, considered one of the most consequential.

Passed during Reconstruction, the 14th Amendment not only set out to protect the citizenship and rights of formerly enslaved Black people, but it also issued safeguards disqualifying former insurrectionists from running for state and federal office. Professor Ifill will offer analysis on the 14th Amendment in contemporary life and politics with a central focus on the human condition in law and democracy.

Learn more and register here.

Carole "Mawoule"Demesmin discusses her music, artistry, and Vodou practice over authentic Haitian food with Cécile Accilien.
Fanm Dayiti: An Intimate Conversation with Carole Demesmin

Date: October 30th

Time: 5pm - 8pm

Location: St. Mary's Hall - Multipurpose Room

Join us for an intimate conversation over authentic Haitian food with the legendary singer, activist and Vodou priestess Carole "Mawoule" Demesmin. Prepare to be inspired, empowered, and uplifted by Carole's journey and wisdom in this discussion led by Dr. Cécile Accilien. This event offers unique opportunity to connect with a remarkable woman and discover how she has been using her career, voice, artistry, and Vodou practice to preserve Haitian culture and create new narratives surrounding Haiti for over four decades. Delicious authentic (and did we mention free!) Haitian food will be served at this event so MAKE SURE TO RSVP so we can make sure you get a plate. See you there!!

Learn more and RSVP here

Legendary musician, visual artist and Vodou Priestess Carole Demesmin leads a workshop on Vodou and its religious and cultural significance.

Vodou Workshop with Carole Demesmin

Date: October 29th 2025

Time: 12pm - 2pm

Location: St. Mary's Hall - Multipurpose Room

Join legendary musician, artist, and Vodou Priestess Carole Demesmin as she invites us into her spiritual practice through this Vodou Workshop. Learn about Vodou and its religious and cultural significance to Haiti in this hands-on workshop accompanied by delicious, authentic (and did we mention free!) Haitian food! This in-person event will take place in the Multipurpose Room of The Language House (St. Mary's Hall). Don't miss this unique, fun and rare opportunity to discover the true meaning of Vodou and get into the Spooky Season spirit! Make sure to RSVP...if you dare.

Learn more and RSVP here.

Join the Anti-Black Racism Initiative, the Baha'i Chair for World Peace and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences for a two-day conference on eradicating racism in the DMV.

When:
Thu, Oct 16, 2025 - 6:00PM
to
Fri, Oct 17, 2025 - 4:30PM

Where:
Atrium, Adele H. Stamp Student Union

Host:
ABRI, the Baha'i Chair for World Peace, and BSOS

Learn more and register here.