(Above) Richard Hunt works on a monument honoring Ida B. Wells, which will be featured in a documentary to be shown on campus. (Photo provided) (Below) History professor Pamela Smoot and SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin Lane celebrate an award for her anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. (SIU Carbondale photo)
January 30, 2025
SIU to celebrate Black History Month 2025 with numerous activities
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale is commemorating February as Black History Month with a variety of special presentations, exhibitions and activities.
“The theme is ‘African Americans and Labor,’ and it focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people,” said Dina Timmons, coordinator of SIU’s Black Resource Center (BRC). “We invite students, staff, faculty, administrators and community members to join us in celebrating Black History Month.”
Kickoff launches systemwide celebration
The official kickoff for the SIU System’s celebration, “The History of Black History,” is set for 5 p.m. Feb. 3 at the John C. Guyon Auditorium, and everyone is welcome.
Pamela Smoot, assistant professor of history in the School of History and Philosophy, will be the keynote speaker. Smoot is a 2024 honorable mention recipient of the SIU System’s Dr. Wesley G. Robinson-McNeese ADEI Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing faculty and staff members with 20 or more years of documented work creating, sustaining and enhancing antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Smoot, who obtained her doctorate in American history from Michigan State University in 1999 before coming to SIU the following year, also earned a certificate in leadership and development in higher education after completing the prestigious HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education at Bryn Mawr College. She has served as co-adviser for the Black Women’s Club and co-president of the Black Faculty and Staff Constituency Group, and she has been active in the annual Women’s Civic Leadership Day, which is part of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.
Smoot authored the 2012 paper “Alexander Lane: From Slavery to Freedom,” commissioned by the institute to recognize Lane, one of the first Black men to attend SIU in the 1870s, when it was known as Southern Illinois Normal Institute. One of the university’s first diversity initiatives, the paper led to the creation of the Alexander Lane Internship Program, which provides minority SIU students with paid internships in the public policy, public service or government fields in Springfield. A 2011 Women of Distinction Award winner, Smoot has also served as a mentor for the McNair Scholars Program and has inspired and mentored countless students during her decades at SIU.
“I love the fact that she challenged us in the many ways she did,” said Timmons, who took multiple classes with Smoot while completing her degree at SIU. “I feel that having Dr. Smoot speak about the history of Black History Month is crucial to knowing who Carter G. Woodson – the founder of the month – was and that Black History Month was the catalyst for all history months.”
The kickoff will also include remarks by:
- SIU System President Dan Mahony.
- SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin Lane.
- Sheila Caldwell, SIU System vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Paul Frazier, SIU Carbondale vice chancellor for anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Linda Flowers, president of the Carbondale NAACP.
- Renada Greer, executive director of the SIU Student Multicultural Resource Center and TRiO Student Support Services.
Black History Month T-shirts will be given at the conclusion of the event, which will also offer students the chance to compete in “Who’s Who SIUC Edition,” with the team that successfully identifies the most Black staff, faculty and community members earning a one-year membership in the Carbondale NAACP. Undergraduate students in attendance will be eligible for entry in a drawing for a free semester of SIU tuition.
Guest speakers will enlighten listeners
Several special guests will also share their insights during events in February. Everyone is welcome to attend the presentations at no cost.
Kevin Cokley, African American psychologist, scholar, professor and ardent defender and uplifter of Black people, will speak about the current state of diversity, equity and inclusion during a “Fireside Chat” at noon Feb. 26 in Guyon Auditorium at Morris Library. Cokley, who earned his doctorate in counseling and psychological services from Georgia State University, is associate chair for diversity initiatives and space management and university diversity and social transformation professor of psychology at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
Cokley’s research, community service, publication and academic career and other works have earned him a variety of awards, including Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Association of Black Psychologists, Top 25 Essential Black Voices on Mental Health and Wellness by Relevant magazine, Innovators and Trailblazers Scholar from the Graduate Mentoring Center at Indiana University and others. He strives to assure that people of African descent and their work are recognized as central rather than marginal to human civilization.
Actress, reality television star, motivational speaker and SIU alumna Apryl Jones will speak about “Perseverance: Black Women in Leadership” at 11 a.m. Feb. 28 in the Guyon Auditorium. A native of Chicago who completed her bachelor’s degree in radiologic sciences at SIU, she has starred in “The Comeback,” “Who’s Cheating Who?” and “Angie’s Cure,” and she sang in the group Cellareign. She is also active with the nonprofit campaign StrongHome Network, which provides support and empowerment to families.
There will also be a panel discussion “Mental Health and Black People: Stigmas, Hot Topics, Local Services” at 4 p.m. Feb. 19 in Rooms 150/160 of the Student Services Building. Panelists include:
- Ryan Reed, CEO of the Can I Live Foundation and triple SIU alumnus, including a doctorate in rehabilitation counseling and education and a master’s degree in educational psychology.
- Christian Gillespie, a clinical psychologist in the region who is a double SIU alumnus with a master’s degree and doctorate in counseling psychology,
- Brock Navarro and Steven Gear, who are mental health coordinators for SIU Counseling and Psychological Services.
All are welcome to join in the discussion that will focus on various mental health topics including access, treatment and success rates among brown and Black people.
Films, variety show, exhibitions and more
Other special events and exhibitions include:
- A special screening of the documentary “The Light of Truth: Richard Hunt’s Monument to Ida B. Wells” at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in Guyon Auditorium. The film explores the creation of renowned sculptor Hunt’s monument in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago to Wells, a pioneering African American journalist, educator and civil rights leader. Afterward, the film’s creators will share their insights about the film and Wells’ legacy. An exhibition of selected lithographs and drawings by Hunt will also be on display in February at the library.
- A big variety show at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 23 in Ballroom D at the Student Center, featuring students and community members showcasing talents in song, dance, modeling and more. Last year’s show drew an audience of more than 250 people, and Matthew Wilson, graduate assistant, will again direct and host the show.
- A showing of the film “Neptune Frost,” a 2021 science fiction romantic musical set in post-civil war Rwanda spanning several eras as it follows the relationship between an intersex hacker and a coltan (metallic ore) miner at 3 p.m. Feb. 24 in Guyon Auditorium. The event, which is a collaboration of the Black Resource Center and the Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center, will conclude with a discussion led by Darryl Clark, associate professor of musical dance theater.
- Dining in Distinction: Professionalism in Every Bite, an etiquette dinner in the Old Main Lounge at the Student Center hosted by the Chicago Public Schools and BRC, with Anna Jackson, English instructor emerita presenting proper dining etiquette at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 5. Participating students can also obtain professional headshots from SIU.
Be sure to visit the Labor of Love art exhibition, too, happening all month and through the end of March at the Sharp Museum in Faner Hall. Featuring the work of DeSande R, a Chicago-born artist now residing in Carbondale, the exhibition showcases her paintings, which were influenced by such diverse artists as Laura Wheeler-Waring, Archibald Motley Jr., Rembrandt van Rijn and Odd Nerdrum as well as SIU faculty members Najjar Abdul-Musawwir and Robert Paulsen (emeritus). She earned her master’s degree in painting at SIU and taught at John A. Logan College for 20 years. Her artwork has showcased influential Black community members such as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.
Learn more
Find the complete schedule of events and additional details on the Black Resource Center website, or email brc@siu.edu or call 618-453-3470 with questions.
Many of the Black History Month events give students the opportunity to earn credits toward the ADEI Leadership Certificate.