Philadelphia celebrates Black History Month

February 4, 2021 Category: Local Posted by: adminphilasun

phila.gov

Black History Month encourages us to recognize the contributions of African Americans. From its beginnings as a week-long recognition by historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926, Black History Month has grown to include opportunities for education, reflection, and celebration. Since 1976, each U.S. president has formally designated the occasion.

This year, celebrating the contributions and achievements of Black Americans feels more necessary than ever. As we look back on a year of COVID-19, mass social justice protests in response to the killings of Black people by police, a contentious election, and a tenuous transfer of power, we know that issues of racial discrimination and oppression still permeate everyday life—especially for Black Americans.

All month long, we’ll share activities, events, and reflections that celebrate Black history, and particularly, the history of Black Philadelphians. Watch our calendar for an event near you, and share with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Black Generational Wealth Series 2021: Where the Real Money Resides

February 11, 2021

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

In honor of Black History Month, the Mayor’s Office of Black Male Engagement is hosting a collection of three events for its bi-monthly My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Action Academy. The Black Generational Wealth Series includes three financial empowerment events, held weekly throughout February 2021. The goal is to empower the community with the tools and resources needed to obtain and maintain generational wealth.

The Black Generational Wealth Series covers topics like financial literacy, engaging City resources and initiatives, entrepreneurship, and transferring wealth. Each seminar features professional panelists with relevant experience and unique insight

Wealth – Where the Real Money Resides

What kind of relationship do you have with money? What comes to mind when you think of wealth? Are being rich and wealthy the same thing? Join us as we seek to unlearn unhealthy habits and learn and apply successful strategies for attaining and maintaining wealth.

Topics:

• Financial Literacy – value of good and repairing credit, establishing a budget and positive cash flow, managing debt, good vs bad debt,

• Life/Health Insurance (Keys to Generational Wealth)

• Financial Planning – Tools for growing your money

• Investing – stocks, mutual funds, real estate

• Pooling resources – groups, clubs, family members

Radical Self-Care in an Era of Activism: A Virtual Salon

February 11, 2021

7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Join Chef Jena Harris and Professor Pysche Williams-Forson for an evening of self-care grounded in the salon-style traditions of the Harlem Renaissance. Chef Jena will welcome participants to make and enjoy sustaining food and drink while discussing and learning more from Professor Williams-Forson about how the contributions of authors, artists, and activists to American art and politics have built movements which center radical self-love.

BGW 2021: The Pandemic Pivot – Bouncing Back from COVID-19

February 18, 2021

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

The challenges of COVID-19 have come with setbacks for all of us in some way, but with every setback there is an opportunity to set up our comeback. Come and learn more tips on how stimulus checks, unemployment, tax returns, grants, rental assistance, and much more can help us think outside of the box.

Join us as we hear from City and Community leaders on tools and resources available to help our communities and businesses bounce back.

Topics:

• City and Community Resources for businesses and individuals

• Gaining access to capital and capacity building for small businesses

• City Council new legislative initiatives & RFPs

• Private & other public opportunities

Michael Eric Dyson | Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America

February 18, 2021

7:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Michael Eric Dyson is the author of Tears We Cannot Stop, an “eloquent, righteous, and inspired” (Philadelphia Inquirer) call for racial change that was named one of the best books of 2017 by multitudes of publications. In Long Time Coming, Dyson employs the lives and legacies of five contemporary Black martyrs as catalysts for America’s long-needed voyage toward a racial reckoning and redemption. In conversation with Jon Meacham.

BGW 2021: Keep It In the Family

February 25, 2021

6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Keep It In the Family

Join the Mayor’s Office of Black Male Engagement as we hear from live examples of generational wealth from some of our very own neighbors. Be inspired and informed on how to foster the mindset and motivation of wealth from one generation to the next.

Topics:

• Generational & Surviving Black Businesses

• Specific business owners – manufacturing, construction, professional service, retail, etc

• Personal background & business history

• Current profile

• Future goals

• Succession plan

• Words of wisdom

Black Writers, the Jazz Age, and the Harlem Renaissance at The Rosenbach | Virtual Behind the Bookcase Tour

February 25, 2021

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

The Harlem Renaissance is the fulcrum for this look “behind the bookcase” at great Black writers. Beginning with Paul Laurence Dunbar, the first acclaimed Black poet after Emancipation, we’ll spend the bulk of our time with letters and first editions of poet Langston Hughes and philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke-including the keystone work of the Harlem Renaissance, Locke’s The New Negro.