Editor’s Pick 

Black History Month Lecture Series 

Presented by the Lehman College Art Gallery, the program covers two of the most important authors to contribute to the North American slave narrative genre: Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. 

 

Collective Black Fugitive Practices in Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl will take place onThursday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m. Eve Eure, an assistant English professor at Lehman College, will discuss Harriet Jacobs’s slave narrative—the first book-length fugitive slave narrative published by a Black woman in the United States. Focusing on the means by which Jacobs navigates the legal and social enclosures of slavery, Professor Eure explores how Jacobs’s text opens possibilities for rethinking notions of kinship, kinlessness, and Black fugitivity. Register here.

Events

Marking 20 years of service, the Bronx River Alliance is hosting their annual Bronx River Assembly on Feb. 4 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. To join this virtual celebration, please email info@bronxriver.org or call (718)-542-4284.

 

Want to lend a helping hand to those in need, especially during this time? Then join the Bronx River Alliance on Feb. 6, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for their Winter Workdays at the Foodway event which will be held at Concrete Plant Park, 1357 Westchester Avenue Bronx, NY 10459.

 

Shake the wintertime blues and lend a hand this winter at the Bronx River Foodway! Help us lay mulch, prune plants, and more as we prepare the foodway for its 2021 spring revival. COVID-19 social distancing guidelines apply. Extra masks will be available onsite. Visit http://bronxriver.org to register, or for more information, email Joseph Sanchez at foodway@bronxriver.org.

 

From December 2020 to June 2021, the Norwood Farmstand will be open to the community on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at E. Gun Hill Road and Dekalb Avenue, with fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables grown by regional farmers, year-round. Be a part of GrowNYC’s Wholesale program, designed to bring the freshest, highest quality, regionally grown farm products to the New York City community. To learn more about this program, visit https://www.grownyc.org/farmstand/norwood.

 

Are you a big fan of 90s movies? Then join Pelham Bay Library for “Back to the 90s Movie Trivia” on Tuesday, Feb. 9, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. via Google Meet to test your 90s movie knowledge! To register for this event, search “Back to the 90s Movie Trivia” at https://www.nypl.org.

 

Are you interested in improving your public speaking skills and sharing your views? Join the Bronx Toastmasters Club of Riverdale on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. To RSVP for this event, please send an email request to BronxToastmastersClub@gmail.com.

 

Would you like to be a part of a group that supports the rehabilitation of others, who are currently recovering from a situation? Then join the JJP VAMC Amputee Peer Support Group on Feb. 12 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, located on 130 West Kingsbridge Rd, Bronx, NY 10468. For more information, contact Irina Agranova-Breyter at irina.agranova-breyter@va.gov or call 718-584-9000.

 

Explore our online exhibit, Black Botany: The Nature of Black Experience, which seeks to acknowledge the complex relationship between enslaved Black people, nature, and the colonial environment and reconsider the conscious omission of Black knowledge of the natural world. The exhibit focuses on five plants—cotton, rice, the peacock flower, peanut, and vanilla orchid. These plants offer a unique lens through which to explore the documentary record about the lived experiences of Black people related to the innovation and impact of these plants.

 

The exhibit features several works from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library and Archival Collections of The New York Botanical Garden, along with plant specimens from the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium. The exhibit was curated by Rashad Bell, MLIS, Collection Maintenance Associate at the Mertz Library, and Nuala Caomhánach, former Humanities Institute Andrew W. Mellon Fellow and Ph.D. candidate at New York University. To learn more, go to: https://www.nybg.org/event/ and search for “Black Botany: The Nature of Black Experience.”

 

Art

The Scott Bleu Studios is hosting a Winter Portrait Event to raise money to build one of the Bronx’s only black and female-owned podcasting studios and build up the studio to serve local artists. Join owners, Bleu and Paula, for ten-minute headshots, ideal for your profile, LinkedIn page or your business. Wine and light refreshments are included. The location will be sent via email after the purchase of a ticket. Mask and hand sanitizer will be available and non-contact temperature will be taken at the door. To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com and search “Scott Bleu Studios Winter Portrait Event.”

 

Movement

Every Monday night, the Bronx Nomads host an hour long run / walk for anyone interested in joining the group. The event starts at Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center at 6 p.m. More information can be found on the group’s Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/bronxnomads/.

 

Join NYC Parks on Feb. 7 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Van Cortlandt Nature Center in Van Cortlandt Park for the Historic New York: Old Croton Aqueduct event and learn about the history and architecture of selected New York City neighborhoods and parks. Urban Park Rangers specialize in the interpretation of historic turning points, both natural and man-made, in the city’s long history. NYCParks asks participants to stay home if sick, maintain six feet of physical distance between households, wear a face covering, keep hands washed and carry hand sanitizer. For more information, please contact (718) 548-7070.