Among the many city activities curtailed, canceled or rescheduled because of the seemingly endless succession of snowstorms were many Boston Black History Month events. Here’s a quick look at Dorchester and city-wide presentations that you can still catch in between shoveling out your cars and walkways.
• In her popular one-woman show “Fufu and Oreos,” Dot writer and comedian Obehi Janice amuses with her recounting of her experiences as a Nigerian in America. The Bridge Repertory Theatre production runs at the Boston Center for the Arts through Feb. 27.
• Dot2Dot Café is holding its second Caribbean night of 2015 with live steel band music courtesy of Charleston Sarjeant and his Pan Jazz Collective. Island food, mauby, and sorrel will be served while the local “pannists” raise spirits with their infectious rhythms. $5 cover charge at the door goes to the band. Feb. 20, starting at 6:30. For more info visit dot2dotcafe.com
• The Uphams Corner Library is hosting an open session in honor of African American History Month. At this class you can learn about the Adinkra symbols of the Ashanti people of Ghana and make your own decorated textile to take home. Thurs., Feb. 19, from 2:00-3:30 pm. More details at 617-265-0139.
• While you’re in Uphams Corner, make sure to stop by the Strand to see “The Other Side of the Lens: African View Points and the Reverse.” This photo exhibit features the work of African-born photographers, shot in both Africa and the Americas. This exploration of the diaspora is presented by Africans in Boston (AiB) and the West African Research Association. The show runs at the Strand Theatre Gallery through Feb. 25.
Outside Dorchester there’s a lot going on well into the spring:
• In the Back Bay, “Intimate Apparel” is the current play running through March 14 at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston. It concerns an African-American seamstress as she makes her living in Manhattan at the dawn of the 20th century. “Intimate Apparel” is a loving and evocative portrait of Esther, an independent but lonely woman who sews exquisite lingerie for wealthy socialites uptown, and women of ill repute downtown. When Esther receives a letter from a stranger who is laboring on the Panama Canal, she begins an epistolary courtship with him, only to discover that he is not all that he seems.
• The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) is currently showcasing the work and life of photographer Gordon Parks, an African-American artist who documented the struggles of segregation in the 1950s. The exhibit will be in the MFA’s Robert and Jane Burke Gallery until Sept. 13.
• Also at the MFA, you can go on a curated tour focused on African-American artists. Edmund Barry Gaither, the director and curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, guides the audio tour.
• Finally, on Beacon Hill two noteworthy educational presentations at the Museum of African American History (MAAH) that were snowed out earlier this month have been rescheduled: On March 12 at 6 p.m., the award-winning poet, activist, and educator Askia M. Toure will present “From the Pyramids to the Projects.” On Thurs., April 2 at 6 p.m, civil rights icon, Bob Moses, speaks on “Black Votes Matter.” Moses spearheaded registration drives and Freedom Schools as a grassroots organizer.
