Black History Month 2022

February is Black History Month. This year, across the university we celebrate Black history, culture and contributions to SFU—find a guide to activities at SFU and in the local community below.

Be sure to check this page throughout the month as we add new events and additional updates.

Attend an event

SOCA Black History Month Kickoff
February 1 | Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry (SOCA)

SFU SOCA launches their Black History Month event with a virtual kick-off party celebrating Black arts and culture. It is an evening, of poetry, music and spoken words.

ArtsLIVE
February 1, 8, 15 | Student Experience Initative and SFU Woodwards

Join SFU ArtsLIVE in celebrating Black History Month, with local Black artists performing each week at Convocation Mall.

• February 1 – Bukola
• February 8 – Laydy Jams
• February 15 – Desirée Dawson

Articulating Blackness in Academia
February 10 | Somali Students Association

Join this seminar by Dr. and Shaykh Faisal Ali on empowering Black Youth to pursue higher education and to highlight the importance of knowledge in islam.

Black History Month Movie Mondays: The Photograph
February 14 | SOCA

Join SOCA online to watch films with Black actors, learn about Black history and culture, to celebrate Black love, and more! Prizes will be drawn by registering and attending. Events are open to everyone.

The Photograph is a 2020 American romantic drama film written and directed by Stella Meghie. It follows the estranged daughter (Issa Rae) of a famous photographer who falls in love with the journalist (Lakeith Stanfield) who is investigating her late mother's life.

Fetishization of Black Skin
February 15 | African Students' Association

The ASA will be hosting an open discussion on "The Fetishization of Black Skin" and its effects in society. Come share your thoughts and opinions on Tuesday, February 15th. Discussion is open to all! 

Homegoing: Blackness and Belonging Across the Canada/US Border
February 17 | History

"But where are you really from?" Join SFU History and Debra Thompson (Political Science, McGill) for “Homegoing: Blackness and Belonging Across the Canada/US Border", as she explores what it means to be in a place, but not of that place. The second lecture in our series "Highlighting Black Histories".

Black History Month Trivia Night
February 18 | Students of Carribbean and African Ancestry (SOCA), African Student Association (ASA) and Somali Students Association (SSA)

Join us for a trivia night celebrating Black History Month! Play games including Kahoot, Family Feud and Jeopardy, and win some cool and amazing prizes.

TOME
February 23 through April | Belzberg Library (Vancouver)

TOME: Passages in Black History, by Chantal Gibson (SFU SIAT), is a mixed-media installation. Made from coffee stained cotton, products that drove the African slave trade, this dense book complete with footnotes is a topographical landscape of memory. It is imagined from a larger historical narrative about the African Diaspora, the part that remains unknown. 

Situated in libraries with other historical and fictional works, this text offers new ways of reading, experiencing and understanding a complex history of beauty, creativity and struggle.

BCCDC-FHS Black History Month Research Seminar - Our Stories, Our Voices 
February 24 | Health Sciences

Our Stories, Our Voices features presentations by Jennifer Migabo, "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Black people in British Columbia", and Stephanie Allen and Modupe Bankole-Longe, "Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination in Black people in British Columbia".

Black History Month Movie Mondays: The Black Panthers
February 28 | SOCA

Join SOCA online to watch films with Black actors, learn about Black history and culture, to celebrate Black love, and more! Prizes will be drawn by registering and attending. Events are open to everyone.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.

Looking ahead: Additional upcoming events

• Becoming an Anti-Racist, Decolonized University: What Does It Mean and What Will It Take? | March 22
• Canada’s Hidden Figures: The Story of Black Women Cooperators | April 14

External events

• CCDI Webinar: Addressing anti-Black racism in the workplace - Fireside chat | February 3
• BC Black History events
  • “History of anti-Black Racism in Canadian Schools and Universities” with Dr. June Francis | February 5
  • A conversation with Dr. Cornel West “Being a Hope Amid Crisis” | February 16
  • “Dynamic Diasporas” Vancouver Mural Fest: Winter Arts Fest | February 25-27
• The Lurie Daniel Favors Show: "COVID Across the Diaspora" with Dr. June Francis | February 21