It’s mid-Black History Month! And as you might have figured, there isn’t a huge amount of programming in Education City.

“What to do?” a civically engaged Education City citizen might ask.

Well, besides pressuring your university to increase Black History Month programming through student groups or individual advocacy, the Daily Q has compiled a list of events you can still attend. Because most of the programming is virtual this year, this gives you an opportunity to attend events that are happening outside of Qatar, organized by the home campuses of Education City institutions.

It is more important than ever to learn about Black history and celebrate Black achievements in our own communities, without uniquely reducing Black history to struggle and trauma. And always remember, every month is a good month to learn about Black history, not just February.

Here are some virtual events that you might want to check out:

• 17: Northwestern University in Qatar is kick-starting the Dean’s Global Forum with a conversation titled “Race in the Middle East and North Africa: From the Ottoman Empire to Black Lives Matter.” Dean Marwan Kraidy will be in conversation with Eve Troutt Powell, the Christopher H. Browne distinguished professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. Powell is a cultural historian who specializess in colonialism and enslavement in the Ottoman Empire and the Nile Valley. The event is at 5:00 p.m.  Doha time. You can register using this Zoom link.
• 21: The African Students Association at NU-Q will host the event “Emerging Voices in Black History.” This event is particularly catered towards students who are interested in or want to study African history. There will be an opportunity to network and gain advice from young and emerging scholars in the field. The event is at 6:00 p.m. Doha time. You can use this Zoom link to join.
• 24: The ASA at NU-Q and GU-Q will host a panel discussion on the EndSARS movement in Nigeria. This webinar is intended to raise awareness about the issue, as well as provide a platform for our community to engage in a fruitful discussion on the varying complexity of police brutality internationally.  The webinar is at 6:00 p.m. Doha time. You can join using this link.
• 25: Join the ASA at NU-Q in the discussion “Non-normative Black Voices in Media,” regarding the diversity of Black representation in media today. The event’s details are TBA. You can check for updates here.
• 28: Closing out Black History Month, ASA at NU-Q is hosting a special celebration of the achievements and careers of our own Black faculty and staff at NU-Q. Black faculty and staff are valuable members of the community, come show your support. You can sign up here. The event is at 12:30 p.m. Doha time.

Events on home campuses

Texas A&M:

• 17: For early birds, at 5:30 a.m. Doha time, the Texas A&M National Association for the Advancement of Colored People presents a virtual event titled “For Us, By Us.” You can sign up through this Zoom link.
• 19: Starting at 4:00 a.m. Doha time, you can enjoy the Afro-Latinx Festival, including Salsa, Reggaeton, poetry and an art exhibition, presented by the Memorial Student Center Woodson Black Awareness Committee and Memorial Student Center CAMAC. Attend on Facebook and Instagram.
• 25: For night owls, you can attend the “Ebony Ball: What is Black Royalty?” at 1:00 a.m. Doha time, presented by the Black Student Alliance Council at TAMU. You can sign up through this Zoom link.

VCU:

• 18: Centering the voices of Black girls and their creative expressions offers a whole new world of political imagination. Join the webinar titled: “Building Black girl sanctuaries: The creative and aesthetic practices of Black girlhood” at 8:00 p.m. Doha time. Sign up through this Zoom link.
• 25: Join the conversation with Brian D. Smedley, chief of psychology in the public interest and acting chief diversity officer of the American Psychological Association, about health inequalities as it relates to race at 10 p.m. Doha time.  Sign up through this Zoom link.
• 26: With the rise of social mistrust in the COVID-19 vaccine, it is important to explore how to build trust, especially in historically marginalized BIPOC communities. Join the panel discussion titled, “Systemic racism, medical mistrust, and the COVID-19 vaccine” It will feature Marcelle Davis, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for VCU Health System; Sheryl Garland, chief of health equity at VCU Health; Scott Burnette, CEO of Community Memorial Hospital; and Elias Neujahr, CEO of Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. The event is at 8 p.m. Doha time, sign up using this link.

Cornell:

• 25: For night owls, “Christian Cooper. George Floyd. Removal of Confederate Statues. Renaming of institutions. Reparations. Systemic Racism. John Muir? What does “environment” have to do with it? How do we meet this moment?” These are questions Dr. Carolyn Finney, author of  “Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors,” will address in the webinar titled, “2020 Vision, A Black Walden Pond & Other Musings” at 2:00 a.m. Doha time.  You can sign up on this Zoom date.
• 26: As a part of Reimagining Citizenship, Cornell Migrations is hosting a Book Launch Roundtable on “Genetic Afterlives: Black Jewish Indigeneity in South Africa.” In the book, Noah Tamarkin analyzes the Lemba people of South Africa and illustrates how they have given their own meanings to the results of DNA tests and employed them to manage competing claims of Jewish ethnic and religious identity, African indigeneity, and South African citizenship. This is a good opportunity to learn about some aspects of historical belongings in South Africa. The roundtable is at 9:00 p.m. Doha time. You can sign up here.
• March 1: Right after Black History Month, join Ijeoma Oluo for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Lecture. The event will explore racism in the U.S. and consider how to engage in productive anti-racist action. The event is at 3:00 a.m. Doha time. You can sign up in this Zoom

Northwestern:

• 17: For the early birds out there, join the Multicultural Student Affairs event titled, “Reclaiming Afro-Latinidad: The Legacy of Bomba with AfriCaribe” to explore the history and culture of Puerto Rico. According to the event description, “AfriCaribe is a Chicago-based non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, research, promotion, and development of the Puerto Rican and Caribbean cultures through music, dance, theater, and other artistic media.” You can sign up through this Zoom link. The event is at 3:00 a.m. Doha time.
• 26: Join MSA and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs for a conversation with Adrienne Maree Brown about speculative and science fiction’s role in radical re-imagination of new worlds. The event is at 10:00 a.m. Doha time. Please sign up at this Zoom link.

Georgetown:

• 17: Join the conversation regarding inclusive medicine titled, “#BlackDoctorsMatter: Enriching Medicine Since 1837.” The event includes a discussion of the following topics: trust and vaccination in the Black community, caring for the Black caregiver, navigating toxic academic spaces, and Black affirmation versus imposter syndrome. The event is at 2:00 a.m. Doha time. Reservation is required before you receive a Zoom link. You can reserve a spot  here.
• 18: The O’Neill Institute and the Whitman-Walker Institute are organizing a virtual event titled, “Decriminalizing Sex Work in D.C. Is a Racial Justice Issue,” featuring Sean Bland, senior associate at the O’Neill Institute, and Benjamin Brooks, assistant director of policy at the Whitman-Walker Institute. The event is at 8:00 p.m. Doha time. You can sign up using this Zoom link.
• 25: For night owls and literature lovers, join the department of Italian and the department of African American studies and the Georgetown Humanities Initiative for a discussion of the book “The Shadow King” by Maaza Mengiste at 1:00 a.m. Doha time. The Shadow King was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize and a 2020 LA Times Book Prize Fiction finalist. According to the event’s description, it is “set against the first real conflict of World War II, The Shadow King is a heartrending, indelible exploration of what it means to be a woman at war.” You can sign up using this Zoom link.
• 25: The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the African Studies Program at Georgetown will kickstart their series titled, “Race and Racism in Africa and the Middle East: A Series,” with a conversation with Mara Leichtman, associate professor in the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University. Leichtman’s talk is titled “Race, Foreign Policy and Friendship: 50 Years of Kuwaiti-Senegalese Relations.” The event is at 7:00 p.m. Doha time. You can sign up using this Zoom link.
• 25: Join the Asian Studies Program at Georgetown for a conversation regarding intersections of K-pop activism and the Black Lives Matter movement with Suk-Young Kim, professor and head of the theater and performance department at the University of California, Los Angeles. The event is at 8:30 p.m. Doha time. You can sign up using this Zoom link.

The beauty of Education City is in its diverse institutions. Each university offers a variety of events to learn more about Black history. Now more than ever, these events are accessible virtually.  However, it is important to keep in mind that learning is not limited to attending events. We should all start from our close social circles, center Black voices through listening to our Black peers, and practice anti-racism every single day. Accountability starts from within! Happy Black History Month!

Disclosure: Rachdi is the current president of the ASA at NU-Q