Charlotte Forten Grimké (August 17, 1837 – July 23, 1914) was an anti-slavery activist, poet, and educator and the first African-American person to teach white students in a Salem, MA public school.
“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
February is Black History Month and Black History is everyone’s history. Here are some of the events that will be celebrating the incredible black voices in the North Shore Community then and now.
Eyes on the Prize Film Screening
Monday, February 3rd | 7pm
Thursday, February 13th | 7pm
Community Minority Cultural Center | 298 Union Street, Lynn, MA 01901
Book Talk: Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds
Thursday, February 6th at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Salem Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty St., Salem MA
Hosted by Salem Maritime National Historic Site. In 2019 and 2020, the National Park Service and many other organizations are commemorating a significant moment in American history: the landing of the first enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America and 400 years of African American history that followed. Join us for an evening book talk with Dr. Jared Ross Hardesty, Associate Professor of History at Western Washington University and author of “Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England” and “Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in Eighteenth-Century Boston.”
Taylor K. Shaw – Ceo / Entrepreneur / Animator
February 6, 2019
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
H-201, 23 Essex St, Beverly, Ma
As the youngest CEO in the animation industry, Taylor is a transformative leader in the space of diversity, equity, and inclusion in media. She is a Social Impact Advisor for Inspire Justice where she serves as a coach to celebrities, teaching them to leverage their platforms to create meaningful social impact. As an advisor at IJ, she facilitates training and develops strategy for companies, production sets, and writer’s rooms that improve employee engagement, counteract unconscious bias, and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion at work.
Black Women Animate is the first and only production company designed to improve the representation of black women, women of color, and non-binary artists of color in the world of animation obtain visibility and job opportunities.
The members of Black Women Animate are committed to controlling their narratives and using their art to empower themselves and their community through visual media.
BLACKWOMENANIMATE.COM
TAYLORSHAW.COM
Black Poets
Monday, February 10th | 7pm
Community Minority Cultural Center | 298 Union Street, Lynn, MA 01901
Brian Stelfreeze – Visiting Artist Talk
Thursday, February 13 | 11:30 am
Montserrat Galleries | H201 23 Essex St., Beverly, MA
As a painter, penciller, inker, and colorist, Brian Stelfreeze has worked for nearly every major U.S. comic book publisher and was one of the original members of Atlanta’s famous Gaijin Studios. While Stelfreeze has been known throughout his career primarily as a cover artist, painting more than 50 consecutive cover illustrations for DC Comics’ Batman: Shadow of the Bat, he’s also produced a significant amount of sequential work, including his Eisner Award-Nominated, run as the artist (both interior and cover art) on the 2016 revival of Marvel’s Black Panther with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. Currently, Stelfreeze acts as art director for 12-Gauge Comics and has provided interior artwork for their titles The Ride, Gun Candy, and ICE, as well as many of their most iconic covers.
Kid Friendly Paint Night
Saturday, February 15th | 2-3:30pm
North Shore Juneteenth Association, Inc.
Old Tyme Italian Cuisine | 612 Boston Street, Lynn, MA 01905
Children will paint the Juneteenth flag, have some lunch, and learn positive lessons about African American culture!
Celebrate Black History Month with the Peabody Essex Museum
Monday, February 17th through Friday, February 21st | 10 am – 4 pm
Peabody Essex Museum | 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA 01970
Join the Peabody Essex Museum for a weeklong celebration of Black History Month and the exhibition Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle through family-friendly art-making, music, storytelling and more with workshop collaborators Wee The People and Castle of our Skins.
Free Family Day
Tuesday, February 18th | 10am-1pm
Lynn Museum/LynnArts | 590 Washington Street, Lynn, MA 01901
In celebration of Black History Month, join Lynn Museum/LynnArts for an exciting day of crafts, activities, and featuring storytellers, Linda and Sumner McClain! Fun for the whole family.
Sponsored by the Lynn Cultural Council.
Free Film Screening – The Best of Enemies
Thursday, February 20th | 6-8:30pm
Lynn Museum/LynnArts | 590 Washington Street, Lynn, MA 01901
Based on a true story, a civil rights activist (Taraji P. Henson) and a Ku Klux Klan Leader (Sam Rockwell) come together to tackle racial segregation of schools in 1971 Durham, North Carolina (PG-13; 133 minutes).
Ebony Photo Exhibit & Vendors Pop-Up
Saturday, February 22nd | 7:00 pm
Community Minority Cultural Center | 298 Union Street, Lynn, MA 01901
Poetry Groove
Thursday, February 27th | 6-8pm
Lynn Museum/LynnArts | 590 Washington Street, Lynn, MA 01901
North Shore Community College hosts its annual open mic and spoken word showcase. All are welcome!
Promises & Limits of the New Republic
Saturday, February 29 | 1:00 pm
Cape Ann Museum | 27 Pleasant St, Gloucester
A panel discussion and conversation exploring the concept of freedom in post-revolutionary America, followed by optional teacher professional development workshop.
“A Feeling of Indignation Rises in My Soul”: Charlotte Forten Grimké’s Poetic Protest
Sunday, March 29 | 2:00 pm
Hamilton Hall | 9 Chestnut St, Salem
Essex Heritage and Hamilton Hall present a lecture for Salem Women’s History Day about Charlotte Forten Grimké, a talented writer, Civil War-era teacher of freed people, and a voice for social and civic equality for African Americans and women. In essays, poems and a long-kept journal, Forten chronicled the times in which she lived—in Salem, where, by day, she read, wrote and walked, becoming the normal school’s (now Salem State University’s) first black graduate and Salem’s first black teacher, and, by night, joined black and white activists in the fight against slavery and racial prejudice.
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