Welcome to February 2018.
Welcome to Black History Month.
This year marks the 150th birthday of W. E. B. Du Bois.
Here are some of the events we have to celebrate.
[Jazz music]
Our 24th Annual Du Bois Lecture will feature
Dr. Reiland Rabaka. He will be doing 2 lectures.
The first lecture is on February 21 in Old Chapel,
and that event is from 4-6 P.M.
Our second event is held in Great Barrington,
the birthplace of Du Bois, and that will be on his birthday
on February 23. That lecture will feature local artists,
local poets, and a number of friends and supporters
of Du Bois's legacy out in Great Barrington
and partners with UMass, and we are very excited
about that event, as well.
For the month of February, we will be honoring
the legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois as a son
of Massachusetts by lending the Du Bois Center's
traveling exhibit to the State House.
It will be on display on the 4th floor
from February 12 to March 2.
In honor of Du Bois's 150th birthday,
the Du Bois Center, UMass Libraries, and UMass Press,
and the Department of Afro-American Studies
here at UMass, have all gotten together to create
the UMass Press edition of The Souls of Black Folk,
featuring an introduction by alumnus Shawn Alexander.
We hope you will join us for one if not all
of these events, and I'd like to leave you with
one of my favorite Du Bois quotes
that really speak to how important this month is
and this year ahead.
"I have loved my work,
I have loved people and play,
but always, I have been uplifted by the thought
that what I have done well will live long
and justify my life,
that what I have done ill or never finished
can now be handed on to others
for endless days to be finished,
perhaps better than I could ever have done,
and that peace will be my applause."
That is by W. E. B. Du Bois, written on June 26, 1957,
with specific instructions not to be opened
until after his death.
Thank you, and happy birthday, Du Bois.
