Penn State Berks celebrates Black History Month

WYOMISSING, Pa. — In honor of Black History Month, Penn State Berks will hold the following events in February 2022. All events are free and open to the public.

Arts and Lecture Series Presentations

Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. – Mike Africa Jr., member of MOVE, activist, speaker, hip hop artist
Perkins Student Center Auditorium
Mike Africa Jr. is a member of MOVE, a Philadelphia-based communal organization with philosophies of black nationalism and anarcho-primitivism. He is the son of two political prisoners who were sentenced to 100-year terms. At age 13, Africa began using his music to raise awareness about his extraordinary life experiences in the hopes of gaining justice for his family. In June 2018, after 40 years in prison, Africa finally got his mother released from prison; four months later, he was successful in gaining his father’s release.

Currently, Africa travels the country as a keynote and public speaker telling his incredible story and inspiring others with his powerful message. He is the host of the podcast “On a Move with Mike Africa, Jr.” and the star of the HBO Max documentary “40 Years A Prisoner.”

For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.

Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. – Zuzu African Acrobats
Perkins Student Center Auditorium
Hailing from Tanzania, Zuzu African Acrobats celebrate the 2,000-year-old Bantu culture of East Africa. Each member of the cast has received special instructions from elders in the Bagamoyo Arts and Cultural Institute to perform these ancient traditions and to share them with audiences around the world. Some of the highlights of this training include proficiency with the ngoma (drum), contortion (ubishi wa solo), dish spinning (sahani inazunguka), chair balance (kusawazisha kiti), unicycles and bicycle tricks (baiskeli), human pyramids (mazoezi ya viungo) and much more – all to the sounds of African beats. The grace, beauty and strength of Africa stands as living testimony presented through living human art and entertainment. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Life at 610-396-6076.