Photo: Emma Friedman/WBZ NewsRadio
SOMERVILLE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The city of Somerville is celebrating Black History Month with several events.
The Arts at the Armory performance hall was packed with people of all ages on Thursday for the Black History Month Film Festival, as part of Somerville’s BHM celebrations.
The festivities kicked off on Feb. 12 with a BHM Wellness Workshop. Last week, the ‘Lessons of the Past: Civil Rights Movement Then & Now’ panel was held at Tufts University with multiple speakers representing the black community.
The events are led by Somerville’s Department of Racial and Social Justice, and Deputy Director Catherine Nakato said it was a huge hit.
“We had Ayanna Pressley, Michael Curry, and Courtney Henderson come in, and it was a firehouse,” said Nakato. “I think the feedback was overwhelming, to be honest. The amount of people that have walked away feeling encouraged.”
Photo: Emma Friedman/WBZ NewsRadio
The films featured on Thursday included “Soul” for all ages at 10:30 a.m., “The Hate U Give” for young adults at 1 p.m., and the documentary “True Justice: Brian Stevenson’s Fight for Equality” for adults at 4 p.m., followed by a film discussion.
“Each of these films touch on the black experience in very specific ways,” said Nakato.
The purpose of these events is to celebrate and honor BHM, and Nakato said the encouragement shouldn’t stop once we flip our calendars.
“Before we can go out and fight social justice, before we can go out and do anything, we need to make sure we’re okay,” said Nakato. “We can’t be pouring from empty cups.”
The events wrap up with a Black Youth Excellence Brunch held at The Dojo at Somernova on Feb. 21 from 12-4 p.m.
More information can be found on the City of Somerville website here.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Emma Friedman (@EmmaFriedmanWBZ) reports.