(BRANCHBURG, NJ) -- Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) will celebrate Black History Month with several virtual and in-person events at the College’s Branchburg campus. All events are open to the public, and virtual events will be held via Zoom. Face masks are required in all RVCC facilities. The following programs have been scheduled:

Thursday, February 3, 1:00pm-2:20pm, Black History Month Kickoff Event, a Virtual Panel Discussion focusing on the national Black History Month theme: "Black Health and Wellness: Perspectives from the Past, Present, and Future": The event, which is free of charge, will feature a panel of diverse, Black health professionals who will speak about the health and wellness of the Black community within their respective fields. The panelists also will address how Blacks and other people of color have been impacted by increasing health challenges, especially during the pandemic. Registration is required. To register and receive the Zoom link information, click here.

Panelists for the event include: Moderator Dr. Elizabeth R. Henry, a board-certified pediatrician, speak, best-selling author, parent coach, and youth advocate. She is the founder of Dr. Liz Consulting, which presents programs designed to support and collaborate with parents, teachers, and others to uplift teens. Dr. Eric J. Williams, a staff physician at Capital Health Primary Care in Ewing, whose specialties include internal medicine and addiction medicine, with a focus on integrating with community-based initiatives.  Dr. Kinya Swanson, a licensed psychologist who maintains a culturally competent psychotherapy practice oriented toward evidenced-based, cognitive-behavioral treatment of anxiety, mood, trauma, and adjustment disorders, as well as family and interpersonal dysfunction. Dr. Swanson also provides culturally intuitive therapeutic services to individuals and families in the areas of racial disparity, trauma, and racially motivated anxiety. Dorothy J. Reed, co-founder and president of Sister2Sister, Inc (S2S), a breast cancer awareness, education, and support organization. In the absence of local support or culturally sensitive resources for minority women diagnosed with the disease, she formed S2S in 2000 with three other breast cancer survivors. She became a breast cancer survivor in 1998 and has since dedicated herself to voicing the importance of early detection in the minority community. Gina Kuijlaars, RVCC director of Advising & Counseling Services. She previously served as the College’s Mental Health Counselor and will discuss resources available for students

Thursday, February 3, 7:00pm-9:00pm, Jazz Trio from the Mannes School of Music at the New School, Nash Theatre: The benefit concert, featuring jazz standards as well as original compositions, is being presented by the College’s Arts & Design department in collaboration with RVCC’s Paul Robeson Institute for Ethics, Leadership, and Social Justice. The concert also will be streamed live here. Ticket proceeds will go to the RVCC Applied Music Fund to help the College’s music majors pay for private lessons on their primary instruments. General admission tickets cost $15 each; admission is free for students and seniors. For advance ticket reservations, contact the Theatre Box Office at 908-725-3420. For information, call the Arts & Design department at 908-218-8876. For additional information, contact Anna Keiserman at anna.keiserman@raritanval.edu.

Saturdays, February 5 and 12, 3:00pm, RVCC Planetarium, "Follow the Drinking Gourd": Audience members will learn how to find the Big Dipper and other stars in our night sky. Then, go back in time to follow a family trying to escape oppression. The Big Dipper guides the group through a frightful but rewarding voyage. Sing along with the slaves who used the song of the Drinking Gourd to travel north on foot from Alabama to Canada. Based on Jeanette Winters’ book by the same title, the show describes the astronomy behind the slave song “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” The family show is recommended for ages 6-12. Planetarium tickets cost $10 each. Reservations are recommended, but all ticket sales are done at the door on the day of the show. Call 908-231-8805. For additional information, click here.

Wednesday, February 16, 4:00pm, Poetic Justice – A Virtual Panel Discussion: Join the Paul Robeson Institute for Ethics, Leadership, and Social Justice, the Black Student Alliance (BSA), and the Center for Gender & Sex Equity (CGSE) for a panel discussion on John Singleton’s acclaimed 1993 film, Poetic Justice. The discussion will focus on the film’s impact on culture over the past 30 years. To participate and receive the Zoom link information, register at womenscenter@raritanval.edu. The program is free of charge.

In addition, the Paul Robeson Institute for Ethics, Leadership, and Social Justice will celebrate the National Museum of African American History and Culture with a Smithsonian Poster Exhibition, “A Place For All People,” on display February 1-28. The exhibition, which has been organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will be on view in the Paul Robeson Resource Center located at RVCC’s Evelyn S. Field Library. The exhibition highlights key artifacts that tell the rich and diverse story of the African American experience, offering a living history that reflects challenge, triumph, faith, and hope.

The commemorative poster exhibition will be open to the public, free of charge, during regular library hours: Monday-Thursday, 9:00am-9:00pm; Fridays, 9:00am-5:00pm; and Saturdays, 11:00am-4:00pm.

RVCC’s Evelyn S. Field Library will present a Black History Month display on the first floor, featuring books that may be borrowed by the community. The Library also will offer a daily event calendar, with digital resources to “Learn Something New” about Black history each day. The Library and its collections are open to the public and digital resources that are limited to RVCC users can be viewed by guests from computers within the Library.  

Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, New Jersey.