Florida Public Library celebrates Black History Month
Florida. The library's programs will include a three-part Black History Film Festival.
| 31 Jan 2020 | 12:18
The first movie in the Florida Public Library's three-part Black History Film Festival will be "The Hate U Give," on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1 p.m.
The second movie in the Florida Public Library's Black History Film Festival will be "Selma," on Wednesday, Feb, 12, at 3:30 p.m.
The final film in the Black History Film Festival at the Florida Public Library will be "Amistad," on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 1 p.m.
Throughout the month of February, the Florida Public Library will be hosting special programs celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans who have led and won struggles for equality and civil rights, created and advanced educational and professional opportunities, and made great contributions to the arts, sciences and humanistic causes and their role in American history.
Book display
The library will also have a special book display showcasing biographies and other media about this group of individuals that can be found in the library’s collection.
Film Festival
The library will host a three-part Black History Film Festival on two Sundays, Feb. 9 and 23, and Wednesday, Feb. 12:
The Hate U Give, Sunday, Feb. 9, 1 p.m.
Based on the award-winning novel by Angie Thomas, the film tells the story of Starr Carter who lives in two worlds: the poor, black neighborhood where she lives and the mostly white prep school she attends. This uneasy balance is shattered when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend by a policeman.
Facing pressures from all sides, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.
Selma, Wednesday, Feb, 12, 3:30 p.m.
Selma is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by James Bevel, Hosea Williams, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis.
Amistad, Sunday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m.
The final movie is the true story of the events in 1839 aboard the slave ship La Amistad during which Mende tribesmen abducted for the slave trade managed to gain control of their captors’ ship and the international legal battle that followed their capture.
Book club: 'The Kitchen House'
On Thursday, Feb. 27, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., the library’s monthly book club will be discussing Kathleen Grissom’s 2010 novel, "The Kitchen House," a work of historical fiction that centers on the happenings at Captain James Pyke’s southern Virginia tobacco plantation, Tall Oaks, beginning in 1791.
The story follows Lavinia, a seven-year-old Irish orphan working at Tall Oaks as an indentured servant, and Belle, the beautiful young daughter of James and his slave. The novel is told from the perspectives of Belle and Lavinia and addresses the predicaments of women, slaves, and indentured servants in the South.
Meanwhile, the library hosted a drop-in Art Night on Feb. 5 to create a mural for our children’s room to commemorate Black History Month. Participants of all ages had the opportunity to use a variety of different mediums to create a large mural which will displayed throughout the month.
Essentials
Registration for these and other programs in February is available online at www.floridapubliclibrary.org or by calling (845) 651-7659.
Florida Public Library is located at 4 Cohen Circle behind Village Hall in Florida and is open seven days a week; Monday-Thursday from 10-8, Friday & Saturday from 10-5 and Sundays from noon until 5 p.m.
'African Americans and the Vote'
February is Black History Month, sponsored by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). The theme for Black History Month in 2020 is “African Americans and the Vote.”
The year 2020 marks the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and the culmination of the women’s suffrage movement.
The year 2020 also marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black men to the ballot after the Civil War.
The theme speaks, therefore, to the ongoing struggle on the part of both black men and black women for the right to vote, focusing especially on the nineteenth century through today.