VGCC puts a local focus on Black History Month

To celebrate Black History Month, Vance-Granville Community College will hold an enlightening program focusing on local history and the arts.

 

The program, entitled “Honoring Our Past, Understanding Our Present & Shaping Our Future,” is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19, at 11 a.m., in the small auditorium in Building 2 on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. The public is invited, as are all students, faculty and staff.

 

Guest speakers from the area will make remarks during the program. They include author Bessye McGhee and artist Sallyann Marable Hobson from Granville County, as well as local historian George T. “Tem” Blackburn and VGCC graduate Dishon Cobbins from Vance County.

 

McGhee, a retired educator and Oxford native, recently published a book, “Our Story: the African American Presence in Granville County,” with assistance and illustrations from Hobson, a retired medical graphic artist and U.S. Naval Reserve veteran.

 

Blackburn is a leader in the Vance County Historical Society and an attorney.

 

Cobbins will share original poetry. He was a member of the cast and crew of VGCC Drama productions while he was a student and is also a singer/songwriter.

 

The program will also include inspirational music performed by a choir of students from VGCC’s South Campus in Granville County.

 

“We want to extend a special invitation to the people of Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties to come and discover more about their own history,” said Helen Bradby of the VGCC Admissions office, who has helped organize the event.

 

This program is in addition to a Black History Month “ Celebration of Gospel ” organized by the college, which will be held on February 12 at 6:30 p.m.

 

For more information, call Helen Bradby at (252) 738-3383 or bradbyh@vgcc.edu .