This Black History Month, the Women and Gender Resource Center will host a Read-In where volunteers can share one-to-five-minute pieces or excerpts of literature written by Black authors.
Who: The Women and Gender Resource Center
What: Black History Month Read In
When: Monday, Feb. 10, 4-5 p.m.
Where: UA Student Center Room 3107
Why:
Elle Shaaban-Magana, the executive director of the WGRC, said the WGRC has been holding a Read-In for Black History Month off and on for 20 years now.
Originally, the Read-In was held as a national initiative through the National Council of Teachers of English. This year, the WGRC is partnering with the University’s English department and Women of Excellence, a student organization, to better reach out to the UA community.
People who attend the Read-In can anticipate expanding their personal library with a variety of Black literature, including some by fellow students.
Kerrigan Clark, the WRGC’s program coordinator, said anyone is welcome to submit their original pieces to read or choose from a selection of offered pieces at the event.
Clark encouraged students to submit their own work and anticipated that there would be a moderate number of original submissions by the time sign-up is closed on Sunday.
Jackie Northrup, the assistant director of WGRC, said one of her favorite authors whose work is included in the event’s optional selection is Amanda Gorman, the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate and New York Times Best Seller, who became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history at the 2021 inauguration.
Northrup said she hopes that students get a good sampler of what the English department and their African American literature courses have to offer.
She said events like this can help give students more exposure to the topic.
Everyone is welcome to stop by the WRGC’s Black History Month Read-In, and those interested in reading can sign up at tinyurl.com/BHMReadIn2025.
