Events to feature Black professionals in tech, award-winning author Junauda Petrus-Nasah, SUNY emerging BIPOC scholars and professors from SUNY and CUNY

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — JAN. 30, 2023 — Dutchess Community College is proud to announce an exciting lineup of events to celebrate Black History Month, including the Black History Committee’s third annual Black Solidarity Conference and Black Professionals in Science, Engineering & Technology Panel.

The BHM Opening Tea will take place on Jan. 31 starting at 12:30 a.m. in the Ritz Lounge, Dutchess Hall. Light refreshments will be served, and attendees will have the opportunity to mingle and learn about the events to come throughout the month of February. 

On Feb. 9 at 12:30 p.m. in Dutchess Hall, room 101, IBM leaders Mustafa Mah, Ali Duale, Marc Coq and Cheikhou Ndiaye will speak on the Black Professionals in Science, Engineering & Technology Panel about their personal and professional journeys as Black professionals in tech. 

The two-day Black Solidarity Conference, on Feb. 16 and 17, features programming centered on literacy, education and building socially just communities. DCC’s Lyceum speaker event, “Black Solidarity Reads,” will be on Feb. 16 with a welcoming tea scheduled for award-winning author Junauda Petrus-Nasah at 11:30 a.m. in the Ritz Lounge, with her reading at 12:30 p.m. in the James and Betty Hall Theatre. Next, on Feb. 16 at 2:30 p.m. in Bowne Hall, room 122, Dr. Robert Robertson (John Jay College) will lead a “Social Justice in Education Workshop” open to all educators in the community and within DCC; future educators are also encouraged to attend! 

There will be four scholarly presentations on Feb. 17 in Bowne Hall, room 122. Emerging BIPOC Scholars recipients, August Smith (CUNY Graduate Center) and Omar Ndizeye (SUNY Binghamton) will give their respective talks: “The Edge of Empathy, Apathy and Education” at 10 a.m. and “A Life of Justice through Peacebuilding” at 1 p.m. Professors Dr. Blair Proctor (SUNY New Paltz) and Dr. Robert Robinson (CUNY John Jay College) will speak on their topics, “From Pandemic to Pandemic” at 11:15 a.m. and “Black Queer Pedagogies” at 2:15 p.m.

Chair of the Black History Committee and DCC English Professor Willie Morris is especially looking forward to highlighting the work of the Emerging BIPOC Scholars recipients; he says, “There is a different generation of scholarship coming, and this award we’ve established is a chance for increased exposure and expanded academic discourse.”

DCC President Dr. Peter Grant Jordan expresses the College’s support of February’s events: “At DCC, we are delighted to celebrate another Black History Month with a rich array of events and activities like those we will be hosting this February. It’s a great opportunity to bring our community together, to learn and be inspired by the experiences, scholarship and artistic achievements of established and emerging Black leaders. This year’s planning committee once again deserves our thanks and appreciation.”

This year’s programming comes with the kind support of the DCC Foundation, DCC Writing Center, DCC’s Francis U. and Mary F. Ritz Library, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center and SUNY Black Faculty and Staff Collective.  

DCC’s BHM events are free and open to the public. A full calendar with more details can be found at www.sunydutchess.edu/bhm.