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JCC Programs Focus on Black History

Jackson Community College will present a number of programs throughout February focusing on black history. These include:

• The Tuskegee Experiment, 1 p.m., Feb. 2-3: What makes it okay for a government to induce people to play the role of guinea pigs in the name of science? For 40 years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for "bad blood," their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all; in fact they were given medicines that were worthless against the disease.
• The Jubilee Singers, 1 p.m., Feb. 9-10: In the chaotic decade following the Civil War, a group of young ex-slaves in Nashville, Tennessee, set out on a mission to save their financially troubled school by giving concerts. Traveling first through cities in the North, then on to venues across Europe, the Jubilee Singers introduced audiences to the power of spirituals, the religious anthems of slavery; and challenged racial stereotypes on two continents. Driven to physical collapse and even death, the singers proved more successful -- and more inspirational -- than anyone could have imagined. They introduced the world to the music of Black America and championed the liberties of all Americans. The "Jubilee Singers" offers a portrait of faith, music, and sacrifice.
• The Book Club @ JCC: Slave: A True Account of Modern Slavery by Mende Nazer: This is the shockingly grim story of how the author became a slave at the end of the 20th century. In 1994, at the age of 12, Nazer was taken from her Nuba mountain village in the Sudan, thrown across the saddle of an Arab raider from the north while other marauders burned her village and killed the adults. She was then raped and delivered to the underground chamber of a slave trader. This book will be reviewed on Feb. 11 @ 2p.m. We will also have a speaker who will talk about his life in the Sudan.
• Black Aviators: They battled prejudice as well as the enemy. Some were forced to fight for other countries in order to realize their dream. Others went on to become legend-yet they were still victims of discrimination. Black Aviators broke down social barriers in order to take to the skies. Pioneers like Eugene Bullard and Bessie Coleman flew for France in World War 1 rather than serve in the segregated U. S. forces. Relive the exploits of the legendary Tuskegee airmen, who forever silenced those who said black pilots weren't skilled enough. This program will be presented on Feb. 16-17 @ 1pm.
• "Tuskegee Airmen": It is 1943 and the Germans are winning the Second World War as the U.S. suffers huge losses on the ground and in the air. Four newly recruited pilots are united by a desire to serve their country, at a time when black flyers are not welcomed in the Air Force. Now, through the brutal demands of their training, to the perils of flying over nations at war, the men they call "The Tuskegee Airmen" must undertake the riskiest mission of their lives--to prove to America that courage knows no color. Their success could earn them respect, save lives and help win a terrible war. Their failure could destroy more hopes and dreams than their own. This movie will be presented on Feb. 15 @ 1pm.
• Emmett Till: In August 1955, a fourteen-year-old black boy whistled at a white woman in a grocery store in Money, Mississippi. Emmett Till, a teenager from Chicago, didn't understand that he had broken the one of the unwritten laws of the Jim Crow South until three days later, when two white men dragged him from his bed in the dead of night, beat him brutally and then shot him in the head, tied him to an industrial and threw him in the Tallahatchie River. Although his killers were arrested and charged with murder, they were both quickly acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury. Shortly afterwards, the defendants sold their story, including a detailed account of how they murdered Till, to a journalist. The murder and the trial horrified the nation and the world. Till's death was a spark that helped mobilize the civil rights movement. This program will be presented on Feb. 23-24 @ 1pm.
• The Era of Jim Crow with Dr. Benjamin Wilson: Jim Crow was not a person, yet it affected the lives of millions of people. Although it was named after a popular 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped African Americans, "Jim Crow" came to personify the system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation in the United States. The Jim Crow era was one of struggle -- not only for the innocent victims of racial violence, discrimination, and poverty, but for those who worked to challenge and promote segregation in the South. Various individuals, organizations, and events played key roles in changing the Jim Crow laws; equally important are the experiences of those who have lived to tell their own tales. Our speaker for this program Dr. Benjamin C. Wilson is a nationally known author, professor and director of the Africana Studies program at Western Michigan University. He will present this program on Feb. 2t @ 630pm.
• Genealogy @ JCC: The Freedman's Bureau/How to locate your Black Ancestors: Established in March 1865, during the final weeks of the war, the Freedmen's Bureau played an important role in helping African Americans make the transition to freedom. The agency distributed food and clothing, and also provided medical services. They also helped freed people acquire land that had been abandoned by owners or seized by Union armies. What records are available from the Freedman's Bureau? How do you search for your ancestors in these records? Find out in a free genealogy workshop presented on Feb. 25 @ 2pm. Please call the Atkinson Library at (517) 796-8622 to register for this program.