Live Like a Native

Achievements & Exploration Check out these local events in honor of Black History Month

compiled by Renee Roberson

Social Justice Book Club (Feb. 17) Check out the book “Make Good the Promises: Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies,” edited by Kinshasha Conwill and Paul Gardullo, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture and join the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library for an online discussion. The program takes place on Zoom. Register by 10 a.m. the day of the event. Free. 6:30 p.m. https://cmlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/

Black History Month Scavenger Hunt (Through Feb. 28)

Celebrate Black History Month with a library scavenger hunt throughout the month of February. Pick up your scavenger hunt anytime during the month and complete by Feb. 28. Children participating may return completed sheets to the Youth Desk for a prize. Mooresville Public Library, 304 S. Main Street, Mooresville, www.mooresvillenc.gov/225/Library

Town of Cornelius Black History Month Celebration (Feb. 26)

This year’s program will feature an opening prayer, the “Smithville History Tour” video produced by the Smithville CommUNITY Coalition, a musical performance by the Stroller Singers of Torrence Chapel AME Zion, discussion with a local artist, and a presentation of the HEARTS Park Vision. Following the program, those in attendance are invited to walk across the street to Potts Barber Shop, where a plaque will be unveiled for the shop’s designation as a historic landmark. Free. 1-3 p.m. Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Ave., Cornelius, www.cornelius.org Bright Star Touring Theatre (March 5) In honor of both Black History and Women’s History Month, attend a production of “Black History Heroes, Soldiers & Spies” performed by Bright Star Touring Theatre. In this play, audiences will have the opportunity to experience, celebrate, and learn about some amazing people throughout Black History. Audiences will head westward to see the work of Buffalo Soldiers and Col. Charles Young, join the Tuskegee Airmen as they take flight to help win a battle in WWII, and meet Mary Elizabeth Bower, a spy who worked with the Union during the Civil War. Free. 10 a.m. 304 South Main Street, Mooresville, www.mooresvillenc.gov/225/Library

Paul Stephen Benjamin: Black Form (Through March 26) Paul Stephen Benjamin’s multi-media exhibition, “Black Form,” continues the artist’s exploration of the color black or the sound of black as a conceptual entry point into conversations about identity, race, and masculinity. His paintings, large-scale blacklight sculptures, and video installations draw inspiration from history, popular culture, and daily, personal meditations. This exhibit includes Benjamin’s largest vinyl text installation to-date, “Black Haiku,” along with blacklight and shattered glass installations, more than 100 works on paper, and a large-scale video installation, “Sonata in Absolute Black: All the Black Keys.” Visit website for gallery hours. Free. Van Every/Smith Galleries, Davidson College, 315 N. Main Street, Davidson, www.davidsoncollegeartgalleries.org