Each week, we will post 2 books to our South Orange Black History Month webpage and Community Relations Committee YouTube channel for books from our booklist that have been read by residents in our community. Books edited by South Mountain YMCA and Dr. Ahadi Bugg Levine

Join resident South Orange Stephanie Lawson Muhammad, founder of Erasing Essex’s Borders, on an exploration of the historical borders that defined the boundaries of South Orange within Essex County and how those borders have impacted African Americans over the last 150 years. Each route will cover 3.1 miles (5k) and incorporate locations and landmarks significant to the African American experience. Registration open for socially distanced, in-person participation (up to 15) - mask required. Meet-up locations will be emailed to registrants 24 hours prior to the event. Routes will be posted after each event for those that would prefer to run/walk as their schedule permits.

Sponsored by South Orange Performing Arts Center “A transfixing documentary about the master Jazz singer.” –Variety Crafted from extraordinary unheard interviews, and restored key performances into color for the first time, BILLIE is the story of the singer who changed the face of American music, and the journalist who died trying to tell it.

Sponsored by South Orange Performing Arts Center Ella Fitzgerald was a 15 year-old street kid when she won a talent contest in 1934 at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Within months she was a star. Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things follows her extraordinary journey over six decades as her sublime voice transforms the tragedies of her own life and the troubles of her times into joy. Featuring interviews with: Tony Bennett, Jamie Cullum, Laura Mvula, Johnny Mathis, Smokey Robinson, Cleo Laine, Andre Previn, Norma Miller, Patti Austin, Itzhak Perlman, Margo Jefferson, Will Friedwald and a rare interview with Ella’s son, Ray Brown Jr. Narrated by Sharon D. Clarke

*Virtual Event* Dr. Clarencia Newsome-Shade will talk about her book Outspoken, a memoir of her father Clarence Newsome, a Civil Rights champion and lawyer. Part of Black History Month. Sponsored by the Friends of SOPL.

In partnership with the Community Coalition on Race, the Village of South Orange invites community members across the Two Towns to learn from community health experts, physicians, and those who have received vaccinations in order to build COVID vaccine confidence among vaccine-hesitant people in SOMA. The event features a panel of Black medical professionals discussing COVID19 vaccines. The panel will be introduced by historian, author, and Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard University, Khalil Gibran Muhammad. The panel discussion will be followed by a live Q&A between panelists and participants. We hope you will join us for this informative event! The Zoom link is below-no pre-registration is required: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87166142529 Meeting ID: 871 6614 2529 One tap mobile +13017158592,,87166142529# US (Washington DC) +13126266799,,87166142529# US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) Meeting ID: 871 6614 2529