African-American History Month events at SPC

All St. Petersburg College campuses will celebrate African-American History Month with events and awards ceremonies throughout February.

Angie Shaghaghi

Among the highlights will be an appearance by Tarpon Springs native Angie Shaghaghi, a successful entrepreneur who has appeared on a number of Food Network shows, including Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen and Hey, Can You Cook?

She will be the keynote speaker at the north county Mac J. Williams Excellence Awards at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Clearwater Campus Arts Auditorium. The Mac J. Williams awards honor outstanding high school students.

Shaghaghi runs a business called Creative Cooks, which teaches cooking classes to children in public/private after-school programs, community centers, nursing facilities and homes.

Other highlights include:

• African-American History Month Quad Event, all day, Feb. 13, St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus
• Jump Start Your African-American Genealogy, 1 p.m. Feb. 13, Clearwater Campus
• Munch & Learn: Race & Ethnicity: Perceptions, Prejudice 7 Power, 12:30 p.m., Feb. 18, Seminole Campus
• Taste of Soul, noon, Feb. 19, Tarpon Springs Campus
• The Rhetoric of Dr. Martin Luther King, 12:30 p.m., Feb. 19, Clearwater Campus
• Poetry Slam, 5:30 p.m., Feb. 19, Clearwater Campus
• South county Mac J. Williams Excellence Awards, 7 p.m., Feb. 24, Palladium
• Soul Food Festival, noon, Feb. 25, SPC Midtown
• Black Trivia Competition, 6 p.m. Feb. 25, Clearwater Campus
• Soul Food Festival, noon and 4 p.m., Feb. 26, SPC Downtown

For complete listings, see www.spcollege.edu/aahm.

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In the news: SPC instructor gets youth in touch with African American history

A recent photo in the Tampa Bay Times featured St. Petersburg College instructor Randy Lightfoot, who led a tour for sixth, seventh and eighth graders of the Pinellas County African American History Museum in Clearwater.

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Scholarships, music part of SPC’s African-American History Month

African-American History Month celebration at SPC’s Allstate Center

SPC’s campuses and centers have been busy throughout February hosting a variety of events marking African-American History Month, from art exhibits to musical events and competitions.

Earlier this month, the Allstate Center held a celebration featuring a drum circle, music and food. Events at other campuses have included a session with civil rights guest speaker Lonnie C. King Jr. at SPC Downtown as well as food festivals throughout the college. This week the Black History Trivia Competition is being hosted at the Clearwater Campus. Scholarships will be awarded to first, second and third-place winners.

More photos from the Allstate Center celebration are on SPC’s Facebook page.

See African-American History Month events at SPC on the college’s event calendar.

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SPC Downtown hosts civils rights guest speaker

Guest speaker Lonnie C. King Jr., who was active in the 1960s civil rights movement, met with students at SPC Downtown earlier this month.

The event is one of several being held this month at SPC’s campuses and centers as part of African-American History Month.

King sat down and spoke with SPC students before giving a speech to about 85 people at the American Stage Theater at the Downtown Campus on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

A founding member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, King and others authored “An Appeal for Human Rights.” Published in various Atlanta area newspapers in the 1960s, it helped launch the Atlanta Student Movement and nonviolent sit-ins and boycotts around the city.

Former president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, King has been honored numerous times for his role in the civil rights movement, according to an article from the University of Georgia. A Morehouse College graduate in 1969, he later earned a masters degree in public administration from the University of Baltimore and has held teaching positions throughout the education system from the elementary to the collegiate level.

See more photos from the event on the college’s Facebook page.

Check for more African-American History Month events on the college’s website.

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New College Collection exhibit celebrates African-American History Month

Art exhibit Reflections Past and Present at the American Stage at SPC Downtown celebrates African-American History Month.

August Wilson deeply admired acclaimed African-American artist Romare Bearden and once said:

“From Romare Bearden I learned that the fullness and richness of everyday life can be rendered without compromise or sentimentality.”

Inspired by American Stage’s production of The Piano Lesson, an August Wilson play, the new art exhibit Reflections Past and Present at the American Stage at SPC Downtown celebrates African-American History Month. It is the second annual exhibit to honor African heritage at the theater company from the College Collection, a public art collection under the St. Petersburg College Foundation.

This exhibit celebrates the moments of everyday life with a sense of rich tradition and history that spans generations in African cultures locally and around the world. On display now through March 3, this special selection of 12 paintings, prints and photographs represents a broad spectrum of African-inspired art from the Collection and includes new acquisitions recently donated to the Foundation, as well as works from the Gulf Coast Museum of Art Collection.

The timeless traditions and lifestyles of African-Caribbean cultures in Haiti, Puerto Rico and Cuba mingle with reflections into contemporary African-American life. From Central Avenue to the legend of Robert Johnson “At the Crossroads,” the universal language of art is the common thread that links these African cultures together, providing an intimate look into ancestry, traditions and values in daily life.

Take a virtual tour of this exhibit and the College Collection on campus by visiting the SPC Foundation website Flickr gallery.

For more information on this exhibit and the College Collection, please contact Christine Renc-Carter, Curator of the College Collection at (727) 341-7914 or carter.christine@spcollege.edu.

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African-American History Month at SPC

The college’s campuses and centers are holding a variety of events throughout February to celebrate African-American History Month.

On Feb. 12, the Clearwater Campus Library will feature Eric Deggans, TV and media critic for the Tampa Bay Times. The discussion will focus on “how the media wields dangerous words to divide a nation.”

On Feb. 13, SPC Downtown will host guest speaker Lonnie King, a civil rights activist who worked next to Martin Luther King Jr. He is the current president of the National Organization for Civil and Human Rights. King will be at the campus at 1 p.m.

The Clearwater Campus will host a poetry slam on Feb. 20 starting at 5:30 p.m. The event will feature SPC’s Hip Hop Ensemble and readings of poetry written by African-American historical figures.

See all the African-American History Month events at SPC on the college’s event calendar.

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Panelists continue 19th Century debate at Clearwater

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg TIMES makes a point during an African-American History Month debate at St. Petersburg College's Clearwater Campus

     Eight panelists gathered at Clearwater’s Arts Auditorium Wednesday (Feb. 17, 2010) to consider this question: is it better to simply pursue success, or is it better to pause in your pursuit and lend a hand to others?
     The program, “Success and Obligation: Whose Dream Is It Anyway?” was offered as part of African-American History Month.
     The question for the panel, which was framed by Communications Professor Dr. Greg Byrd, was based on an ongoing debate that took place in the late 19^th Century between W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. Washington believed in hard work and self-help; DuBois was more of a believer in organizing and petitioning for change.
     Taking part in the debate were: 

• Eric Deggans, St. Petersburg TIMES writer
• Dr. Dean Kohrs, SPC instructor and author
• Dr. Susan Demers, Dean of SPC’s Paralegal Studies Program
• Jimmy Chang, SPC Math Program Chair at SPC
• Tony Ballard, SPC Speech professor
• Rod Davis, Director, Student Activities/Male Outreach Initiative
• Phil Thomas, Director, MAP Counseling Center
• Dr. Antoinette Caraway, Instructor and Clearwater campus Academic Librarian

      The debate was moderated by Dr. Bonnie Jefferis, Communications Department Committee Coordinator for African-American History Month.

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