Leslie Brown, author of Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Jim Crow South, will read from her book and discuss Durham’s African-American history on Sunday, February 8 at 3:00 p.m. at the Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Old Fayetteville St., Durham. Light refreshments will be served. The program, which is a partnership between Durham County Library and St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc., is free and open to the public. For more information, call 560-0268 or visit www.durhamcountylibrary.org.

In Upbuilding Black Durham, published by University of North Carolina Press in 2008, Brown paints Durham in the Jim Crow era as a place of dynamic change where despite common aspirations, gender and class conflicts emerged. Using interviews, narratives and family stories, Brown animates the history of Durham from emancipation to the civil rights era, as freed people and their descendants struggled among themselves and with whites to give meaning to black freedom. Placing African-American women at the center of the story, Brown describes how black Durham’s multiple constituencies experienced a range of social conditions.

Leslie Brown is an assistant professor of history at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Born in New York City, she attended Tufts University where she received a B.A. in sociology and English. She earned her A. M. and Ph.D. in History at Duke University. From 1990-1995 she co-coordinated the project “Behind the Veil: Documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South,” a collaborative research and curriculum program at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke. “Behind the Veil” brought together students, faculty and communities across the region to study and teach African American history during the period of legal segregation.

Brown has taught a range of content and methodology courses in race, gender and public history at institutions that include Skidmore, Duke and Washington University in St. Louis. She was a recipient of a Faculty Research Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. As she expands her research agenda on African American and women’s politics and culture in the twentieth century, she is at work on a book on black women’s migration, an edited collection of interviews, and a volume of the writings and speeches of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. Brown is an enthusiast for American politics and an avid critic of media.

Durham County Library provides the entire community with books, services and other resources that inform, inspire learning, cultivate understanding and excite the imagination. For more information, visit your local library or visit us online at www.durhamcountylibrary.org.

The Chapel Hill Carrboro Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will host “Zinfandel and Pastels” a wine and cheese art fundraiser at the Hayti Heritage Center on Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 7:00 PM. Tickets for this event are $5.00.

Back by popular demand, this is the second year of the event. The evening will begin with a silent auction, featuring a wide variety of goods and services from area businesses. Music will be provided by saxophonist, Marcus Anderson.

Saxophone prodigy and vocalist, Marcus Anderson, electrifies stages with an unmatchable energy and an intoxicating sound that exceeds well beyond his years. Anderson’s debut album “My Turn” is an upbeat collection of soulful R&B moods, ranging from bold jazz grooves to romantic ballads.

A few of the exhibiting artists include Eric Kelly III, Marilyn Griffin, Candace Blake, and King Kenney. Guests will have a chance to meet the artists and purchase their original works.

Eric Kelly III began his work as an artist with an expressionistic style and tradition. His art has evolved over the past 20 years to include abstract and impressionism pieces.

King Kenney is a conceptual expressionist whose inimitable style of surreal caricature has afforded him the occasion of fully devoting his life to a vacillating matrimony with professional artistry.

Guests will also enjoy exquisite cheeses paired with various wines. In addition, guests will have the unique opportunity to sample Roselle, new non alcoholic cocktail beverage.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., founded in 1913, is a private, non-profit, international public service organization whose purpose is to provide services and programs to advance the well being of humankind. In January, the organization celebrated its 95th Founder’s Day.

On March 18, 1979, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Area Alumnae was chartered and twenty graduate women who were designated as charter members. Proceeds from the event will fund the public service programs of the chapter which include scholarships for students in Orange and Chatham County.
For tickets or additional information, please call 919-302-2129 or 919-683-1709.

On Thursday, February 5, 2009, The Magic of African Rhythm presents “An Accounting of Africa in North Carolina” a forum of diverse panelists committed for decades to the work of “building the bridge” between North Carolina and Africa. It will take place at the Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Fayetteville St. in Durham from 7pm to 9pm.

Mama and Baba Shabu’s new book, Kpawo, (PA- wo) The Bridge: Finding Your Ancestral Connection in Africa will serve as the cornerstone of the discussion.

Well known cultural artists Dr. Chuck Davis, Ava Vinesett, Braima Moiwai, and several community leaders will be part of the forum panel. Dr. Nana Anoa Nantambu will be serving as forum moderator.

The public is invited to share in this vital discussion about how we preserve our identity in a society of pervasive and coercive commercialism.

Annual Valentine’s Jazz Festival featuring Duke Jazz Band, NCCU Jazz Ensemble and UNC Jazz Band.

Details: February 15, 6 pm

Click here to purchase tickets.