Middletown’s own all-star athlete Butch Carter will share his story as the keynote speaker at Feed the Hungry Project’s 9th Annual All-Black Attire MLK Gala, to be held at 5 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Warehouse Hotel & Conference Center at the Spooky Nook Sport Champion Mill, Hamilton. The Feed the Hungry 2023 Honorees includes Delia A. Adams, Director of Veterans Health Administration; Kris Horlacher, RN, BSN and founder of S4TS; Dr. Quinton E. Moss, CEO and Medical Director of Modern Psychiatry and Wellness LLC; Dr. Sarah K. Nathan, Executive Director of Middletown Community Foundation; Norman Spence, Director of Strategy & Operations & Facility Administrator for Kettering Health; Minister Patricia A. Wilkinson, Esq. at Mt. Zion Baptist Church and Associate Attorney at The VanNoy Firm. Tickets may be purchase by visiting feedthehungryproject.org.
FAIRFIELD TWP.
Butler Tech will hold the Black Excellence Show at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Butler Tech School of the Arts, Event Center, 3603 Hamilton Middletown Road, Fairfield Twp. The event is free and open to the public.
OXFORD
McGuffey House and Museum’s monthly program will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Auditorium of the Miami University Art Museum, 801 S. Patterson Ave. The featured speaker will be Valerie Edwards Elliott. Her talk is titled, Oxford’s African American History: An Overview. African Americans established multiple churches, held public office, and integrated the public school. During the 20th century, they continued the struggle for equal rights as the Great Migration brought new people from the South. Historical documents and firsthand accounts help tell this rich history. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 513-377-3818 or 513-529-1887.
Miami University Office of Institutional Diversity & Inclusion will present Black Excellence Scholars Series at noon Feb. 8 virtually. Featured speaker is Rodney Coates, Ph.D. Addition speakers will be Feb. 16 with Kristian Contreras, Ed.M., Feb. 20 with Helane Androne, MAT, Ph.D., Feb. 23 with Morgan Moore, M.Div., and Feb. 28 with Lauren Brassfield.
The public launch of the “Lived Experiences: Race at Miami University” website will be at 5 p.m. Feb. 14 at 320 King Library. “Lived Experiences: Race at Miami University” tells the stories of people of color in the Miami University community during its Public Ivy period, from 1970 to the early 2000s. Funded by Miami’s Boldly Creative initiative, the interdisciplinary “Lived Experiences” team filmed oral history interviews with former students, faculty members, and staff members of color to document and spotlight their experiences and perspectives. The program will include a panel discussion. A reception will immediately follow. A documentary premiere event will also take place at 6 p.m. Feb. 21, in Shideler Hall Auditorium. For more information, go to miamioh.edu.
The City of Oxford has a self-guided Black History Tour plan available to take people around the town and on the Miami University campus. The tour provides the opportunity for learning more about the people and places, hardships and accomplishments of the area’s Black history. Physical copies of the tour guide are available at the Enjoy Oxford office, 14 W. Park Place, Suite C. To get it online, email info@enjoyoxford.org or go to https://enjoyoxford.org/article-archive/black-history-in-oxford-tour. Enjoy Oxford says some locations on the tour will not have a clear place to pull over if you are driving and you will need to park in the closest parking lot if you wish to stop to observe the location more closely. The Black History Tour of Oxford takes about an hour to complete. Some locations include Bethel A.M.E. Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, the Cephas Burns House, Sycamore Car Wash and many more.
WEST CHESTER TWP.
The Live the Dream: Our Declaration of Unity organization celebrates Black History Month with a Lecture Series at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at MidPointe Library, 9363 Centre Pointe Drive, West Chester Twp. This year’s lecture is about the life and career of former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson. All are invited to attend this free program.
CINCINNATI
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is celebrating Black History Month by celebrating the past, connecting with the present and looking to the future. Programming for February includes panel discussions, film screenings, youth programming and free admission on select days. For more information and the complete schedule of the month, go to freedomcenter.org.
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