QVCC Hosts Black History Month Events

Quinebaug Valley Community College Hosts Black History Month Events

DANIELSON—Quinebaug Valley Community College (QVCC) invites the community to the following free Black History Month events in February. Both events will be held on the college’s main campus at 742 Upper Maple Street in Danielson.

• Feb. 10, 10:30 a.m., “An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: Oral History and Black History Friday.” How did an Afro-Caribbean civilian become a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II and survive to tell about it? Author Mary Romney-Schaab will present on her book, “An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: From Papiamentu to German” in QVCC’s auditorium. The presentation will discuss the importance of oral history and shine light on an area of Black history that might otherwise remain obscured: that of Black victims of the Nazis during World War II. For more, contact Sarah Wolfburg, swolfburg@qvcc.edu, phone: 860-932-4133.

• Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m., The Spring 2023 Waiting for Yoko Series: “Celebrating Black History with Poet Frederick-Douglass Knowles,” will include a reading by Knowles in the Spirol Gallery, followed by an open mic. Light snacks and refreshments will be available.

Educator, poet, and literary activist Frederick-Douglass Knowles II is a professor of English at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich and the inaugural poet laureate of the city of Hartford. Knowles was a 2020 recipient of the Connecticut Artist Fellowship Program, receiving an Artistic Excellence Award for poetry and creative non-fiction and a recipient of the 2019 Nutmeg Poetry Award. Known for his dynamic and moving readings, he is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of “BlackRoseCity.” For more information, contact Jon Andersen, jandersen@qvcc.edu, phone: 860-932-4054.

QVCC is among 12 community colleges in Connecticut that will merge in 2023 to become CT State Community College, one of the largest community colleges in the country and largest in New England, dedicated to quality, access and affordability. CT State students will be able to apply once and take classes at any campus. In addition to Quinebaug, other locations include Asnuntuck (Enfield), Capital (Hartford), Gateway (New Haven & North Haven), Housatonic (Bridgeport), Manchester, Middlesex (Middletown & Meriden), Naugatuck Valley (Waterbury & Danbury), Northwestern (Winsted), Norwalk, Quinebaug Valley (Danielson & Willimantic), and Three Rivers (Norwich) Community Colleges.