February celebrates black Americans

On Feb. 18, the New Jerusalem Baptist Church celebrates African-European Roots of the Underground Railroad from noon to 2 p.m. at 122-05 Smith St., Jamaica. It will feature an art exhibit and performances by Janice Marie Hamm, Proskuneo Dance Ministry and Ballet International African.

An exhibition on the “History of Black Films of the Early 20th Century” at the Queens College Campbell Dome will focus on the work of Oscar Micheaux, an early African-American filmmaker who produced/directed over 40 films. Artists Lawrence Joyner, Elemuel “Dean” Richards and Tyson Hall will lead a discussion on Feb. 29 at 1:30 p.m.

LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City will host a piece of the 23rd National African American Read-In on Tuesday, Feb. 14 from 1 to 3 p.m. Selections by John A. Williams, a former LaGuardia professor and Piri Thomas, Afro-Latino memoirist and poet, will be read along with other pieces of black literature.

A lecture on “Haiti, the Earthquake and its Aftermath” will be hosted by Queens College political science Prof. Francois Pierre-Louis, who served in the cabinet of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and acted as an adviser to the prime minister. The lecture takes place on Wednesday, Feb 15 at 1:30 p.m. at the Queens College Campbell Dome.

Queens College will screen “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” the critically acclaimed 1977 television series that won nine Emmys, a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It will shown at the Student Union, Room 301 from 7 to10 p.m on Feb. 21.

Edwin Cadiz is the featured artist in a Black History art show at the Long Island City Library through March 30. Cadiz makes collage art.

In celebration of Black History Month, visitors to the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona this month will receive a discount code for “Stick Fly,” an Alicia Keys-produced and scored play that made its Broadway debut in December.