2026 Black History Month at OBCC

Minister Kristin Kelly

Reading Freely (Live): Youth Voices on Black Authors & Shared Truths

The series opens with a dynamic, interactive discussion – moderated by Minister Kelly— involving young people reflecting on texts from Black authors that have inspired them. Their conversation will reveal how reading is an act of freedom.

Dr, Dana Williams

Best seller biography:

Toni @ Random (Exploring Toni Morrison as Editor)

Dr. Dana Williams will be in conversation with 3-time Peabody Award winning producer Sonja Williams. The two will discuss Dr. Dana's new best selling biography: Toni @ Random — Exploring Toni Morrison as Editor. They will discuss the lesser-known but deeply influential editorial work of Toni Morrison, highlighting her role in shaping Black literary voices and expanding the boundaries of American literature. 

Dr. Williams is a powerful voice in preserving and championing Black stories, dedicating her life’s work to ensuring that literature, history, and culture are not only remembered—but boldly carried forward for future generations. Through her scholarship and storytelling, she opens doors to voices too often overlooked, illuminating the brilliance, resilience, and creative power of Black writers who have shaped our collective narrative. Trusted as a national thought leader, her influence reaches classrooms, communities, and cultural institutions alike reminding us that words matter, stories matter, and whose stories we tell can change lives.

Visit Dr. Williams' website at https://www.danaawilliams.com/about-2/

George Derek Musgrove, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of Rumor, Repression, and Racial Politics: How the Harassment of Black Elected Officials Shaped Post-Civil Rights America (U. of Georgia, 2012) and co-author, with Chris Myers Asch, of Chocolate City, A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital (UNC, 2017). In 2021, he tried his hand at digital humanities, releasing blackpowerindc.umbc.edu a web-based map covering thirty years of Black Power activism in the nation’s capital. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, National Public Radio, the New York Times and The Root. He is currently working on a book project tentatively titled “We must take to the streets again”: The Movement Resurgence in Conservative America, which explores the burst of black activism that rose in opposition to the urban crisis and the conservative retrenchment in the 1980s and 90s. He earned his Ph.D. from New York University in 2005 and now lives with his wife and two sons in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Cheryl LaRoche

Cheryl Janifer LaRoche specializes in interdisciplinary research, blending history, geography, archaeology, material culture, historic preservation, and cultural landscapes. Her work creates a deeper understanding of the African American experience, focusing on pre-Civil War Black communities, their institutions, and the Underground Railroad. She has explored historic sites from New Hampshire to Missouri and Canada.

Dr. LaRoche earned her Ph.D. in American Studies with a concentration in Archaeology and African American History from the University of Maryland, College Park. Institutions such as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Park Service, the African Burial Ground Project, and numerous museums and historic sites have sought her expertise.

The Society for Historical Archaeology awarded her the John L. Cotter Award for her groundbreaking contributions to African American history through historical archaeology. Her book Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The Geography of Resistance showcases her multidisciplinary approach.