CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston County Public Library is celebrating Black History Month throughout the month of February with writing contests, programs, displays and more. Black History Month is an annual celebration that recognizes the achievements of African Americans and their role in history. Call your local branch for more information about this month's programs.
There are two writing contests that run throughout the month of February.
CCPL invites you to participate in the Cynthia Graham Hurd/St. Andrews TeenSpot Annual Black History Essay Contest. This year's essay topic is: what are some of the most important cultural contributions of the Harlem renaissance? The contest is open to Charleston County student in grades 6 through 12. Two winners, a middle and high school student, will receive a trophy and a $50 Amazon Gift Card.
Teens and adults can also participate in the Black History Month Poetry Contest put together by CCPL's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. Submit your original poems reflecting on black history culture, experience and/or social issues. One winner will be chosen from each age group and will receive a $25 gift card and an online feature.
And don't miss this month's featured artist in the Saul Alexander Gallery at Main Library, Malik Greene. Greene's exhibit, titled "Baby Boy," captures his mental state as well as the perspective of his own world through his paintings. His work captures an intimate narrative, as well as historical, political and popular culture influences.
Special programs on Zoom
On Tuesdays, Feb. 1, 8, and 15, Julian Gooding from the Wando Mount Pleasant Library will host three virtual discussions on mental health in the BIPOC community. Each sessions starts at 6 p.m.
The first session is titled "Black Men Don't Cry." Through their own lived experience, Melvin Graham co-founder of the Cynthia Graham-Hurd Foundation and documentarian Julian Gooding will share their family history of mental trauma, coping with depression and resources for renewing the mind.
Register to join one or all of the discussions and check out the other two topics.
On Wedneday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m., join nationally known Black women authors La Jill Hunt, Trice Hickman, and Electa Rome Parks as they discuss “For the Love of Writing: Black Women Writers Speak on Passion for the Pen, Publishing, and Libraries.” The discussion will include stories about the authors' writing lives, how diversity shows up in their work, Black women in the publishing industry and how libraries played a part in their careers as writers. Register for the discussion.
On Wednesday, February 22 at 2 p.m. join us for a Read for Change book discussion via Zoom on Sonya Renee Taylor's Book "The Body is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love". Read for Change discussions use literacy to fight racism and strive to explain and understand inequality through close readings of nonfiction texts. Register for the discussion.
Charleston Time Machine focuses on black history
In Episode 225, "The Colonial Roots of Black Barbers and Hairdressers," set to be released on Feb. 11, Dr. Nic Butler goes back to look at the colonial history of Black barbers and hairdressers. As the population of “free persons of color” swelled in late-eighteenth-century Charleston, Black men with hair-dressing skills opened barber shops catering to customers across the color line. The episode will explore the histories of Black barbers, like Moses Brown, John Francis, and Laurence Campbell.
Before jumping into the rise of freed persons of color discussed in Episode 225, readers and listeners may want to learn about the capitation tax collected on that small group of the population. Butler explained the foundations of the tax and how it worked in Episode 224, "South Carolina's Capitation Tax on Free People of Color, 1756–1864."
And in Episode 226, "The Voice of the 'Black Swan' in 1873 Charleston," set to be released on Feb. 25, Butler will explore the story of Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, who was born into slavery in Mississippi but gained freedom and education in Philadelphia. Her fine soprano voice opened doors to a singing career in the 1850s that led her across the nation and to audiences with Queen Victoria in London. Charleston music lovers were eager to hear the celebrated Black Swan, as she was known, and packed her inspiring performances in the Palmetto City in late 1873.
With five years of episodes, The Charleston Time Machine has covered Black history in Charleston, and those stories are always available, including Charleston's Green Book, the beginnings of the Black Suffrage movement, and defining Charleston's Free People of Color, among many other.
Book lists built by CCPL staff members
CCPL librarians are experts at providing reading recommendations. From time to time, we reach out to them to put together special lists to make finding your next read easier.
Ramon Maclin, who works at the Main Library currently, put together a list of Black autobiographies documenting the stories of prominent and influential leaders. From Nelson Mandela to Jackie Robinson, take a look at this list Ramon put together last year.
Dorchester Road Library branch manager Gerald Moore in 2020 put together the one of the most comprehensive Black writers lists, spanning dozens of titles and multiple genres. It's impossible to come away from that list without something new to read. There's even some amazing new sci-fi!
CCPL's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Committee highlighted some of their favorite top 14 reads of African American poetry books, that can be borrowed at our library. If you're inspired to write your own Black History Month poetry, enter our contest.
If you're more a fan of downloading your next read, the experts in the CCPL cataloging and acquisitions department have sourced a number of lengthy lists for Black History Month, including Black Voices In Adult Fiction, African American Perspectives, and Fresh Voices and Diverse Stories in the Young Adult section.
With your CCPL card, you also have access to Hoopla. That means you also have access to more curated book lists for Black History Month, including Black Stories & Experiences, Black History Month, and Black History Month for Kids.
Research Black Lives with access to research databases
A CCPL card lets patrons explore millions of research articles and resources from any computer. During Black History Month, take some time to explore ProQuest's Black Freedom Struggle in the US, an extensive collection of primary source documents from several of the time periods in American History when the river of the Black Freedom Struggle ran more powerfully, while not losing sight of the fierce, often violent opposition that Black people have faced on the road to freedom.
Infobase's African American History database covers more than 500 years of the African-American experience. Users can start their investigation of a topic with a video or slideshow overview, use the key content called out on the home page to find an entryway into the database, or dig deep into a subject or era through the Topic Centers.
And there are hundreds of thousands more resources available in the Reference & Research section of our website to explore, investigate, and learn.
Check out these displays at CCPL branches
Visit the Main Library to see a film on display on the first floor celebrating black filmmakers. There are also portraits of prominent black directors.
The Bees Ferry West Ashley Library has a display with books featuring African Americans and their stories to help readers understand the flight and struggle throughout history until the present time. The branch is giving away gift bags that include a “Do You Know Booklet,” coloring pages of famous African Americans, and a fortune cookie with an inspirational quote inside. At select branches including, the West Ashley Bees Ferry Library, visitors will find a pamphlet from the International African American Museum featuring 18 influential people in African American history.
The John’s Island Library has a display featuring fiction and non-fiction books in celebration of Black History Month. The display includes a biography section in addition to an ever-changing display on various musicians, athletes, leaders, activists and artists.
The Wando Mount Pleasant Library has a book display that explores the range of artistic expressions by self-taught African American artists from the rural South and the urban North. Check out a book highlighting complex and vibrant quilts, paintings, works on paper, and sculpture. Visit the welcome desk to see an art exhibit by local Visual Artist Christine D. Johnson.
Patrons are also encouraged to try their hand with a "Take and Make" at the Wando Mount Pleasant Library. Each bag contains a small canvas, glue, paint brush and paint. Add your own additional objects like fabric, beads, clippings from newspaper and photos. Bring in your masterpiece to be displayed at the library.
The Baxter-Patrick James Island Library has a display in the Children’s Department featuring a selection of children’s books.