Join members of AAFSA and Black Faculty and Staff for a Black History Month social mixer!
Meet us at 5:00 PM on Friday, February 21, 2025, at Black-Eyed Sally’s Southern Kitchen & Bar in Hartford (350 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT 06103).
2025 Black History Month Events
The AAFSA E-Board would like to share the African American Cultural Center (AACC) Black History Month events calendar for 2025.
Please click on this link to download the AACC Black History Month events calendar in a PDF format.
All are encouraged to visit the Association for the Study of African American Life and History link below as a resource for enhancing their research and understanding. This year’s National Theme is “African Americans and Labor.”
Link: https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/
2025 Black History Month Opening Ceremony
The African American Cultural Center (AACC) presents the Black History Month Opening Ceremony and Dinner with Chanelle Howell.
Stamford Black History Month 2025 Vendor Fair
Join the Stamford community at the Black History Month 2025 Vendor Fair! This free event is open to the public and will be held on Saturday, February 15, from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, on the UConn Stamford Campus (1 University Place, Stamford, CT 06901).
Free parking is available at the UConn Stamford Parking Lot (1194 Washington Blvd., Stamford, CT 06901).
Celebrate Kwanzaa with the AACC
The H. Fred Simons African American Cultural Center (AACC) cordially invites members of the UConn community to their annual Kwanzaa celebration. The celebration will take place on Friday, December 6, in the Student Union Ballroom (Room 330/331), on the Storrs campus. Doors will open at 5:30PM.
This celebration also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Black Student Sit-In.
To request a reasonable accommodation, please contact the AACC at aacc@uconn.edu or 860-486-3433.
CETL Workshop: The Current Landscape of DEI at UConn…
The AAFSA E-Board would like to share the following CETL workshop with our community.
The Current Landscape of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UConn and in Higher Education
September 24, 1:00-2:00
Online
Presenters:
Jeffrey Hines, Chief Diversity Officer
Jonelle Reynolds, Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives
Participants will be updated as to current DEIJ initiatives at UConn. Additional, participants will be updated as to current national pushes to dismantle DEIJ in higher education and discuss the implications of this push to dismantle DIEJ.
2024 Black Star Film Festival
Hello AAFSA Family, 
We invite you to check out the 2024 Black Star Film Festival, August 1 - August 4, 2024. The festival will be held in person in Philadelphia and virtually.
View the Schedule: https://watch.blackstarfest.org/blackstarfest
World Premier of *The Whites of Our Eyes" on August 4th, a short documentary film that follows Dr. Yaba Blay as she returns to her familial homeland of Ghana to explore the relationships between beauty, bodies, and b/Blackness. In addition to recreating the groundbreaking Clark Doll Test among school children, the film follows a young hustler as he prepares for his community's annual harvest festival by bleaching his skin. Amidst the ghost of colonialism and the gods of whiteness, "The Whites of Our Eyes" questions ideas and ideals of beauty in Ghana within the beauty of Ghana.
All individual tickets can be purchased via blackstarfest.org/tickets. The cost is $7.50 per ticket for virtual screenings and $18 for in-person screenings.
You can access your purchased tickets by logging in and navigating to My Schedule or My Account (they will also be emailed to you). Each screening ticket will have a corresponding QR code that can be displayed on those pages. $175 gets patrons access to all virtual screenings.
Most films at the festival will be available to stream online globally unless otherwise noted.
Stamford Juneteenth Celebration
Join members of the Stamford community as they celebrate Juneteenth with a Freedom Day Celebration! The celebration will be held on Saturday, June 15, from 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM at Mill River Park (1010 Washington Blvd., Stamford, CT 06901). NBA All-Star John Starks will serve as the Grand Marshall with entertainment headlined by DJ Clue.
AAFSA Hosts Beats & Bingo
The AAFSA E-board invites you to play Beatz & Bingo! Join us for an afternoon of fun, music, and bingo at Soul Baila Restaurant on Saturday, May 11, from 11:30AM to 3:30PM. Ticket prices include brunch and one drink ($40), or brunch and unlimited mimosas ($60). Adult friends and adult family members of AAFSA are invited to join us as well. Come play Beatz & Bingo with AAFSA on May 11 at Soul Baila Restaurant (735 Wethersfield Ave, Hartford, CT 06114).
Please RSVP at s.uconn.edu/beatzbingo
AAFSA Chair Yoga
Join AAFSA for a virtual Chair Yoga experience!
The AAFSA E-Board is proud to host a virtual Chair Yoga event on Wednesday, March 13 at 12:00 PM. We will welcome Pia Oliveri, owner and director of Wabi-Sabi Yoga and Wellness Center in Windsor Locks, CT. Pia is an RYT 500-hour teacher, a Personal Trainer, Pilates, and Barre instructor. She will work with us on mindfulness, breath work, and chair yoga. This event will be held virtually via WebEx. All you will need to do is sit in your chair and join the virtual meeting!
We hope that you will join us for this mindfulness event on Wednesday, March 13 at 12:00 PM.
If you have any questions, please contact us at aafsa@uconn.onmicrosoft.com.
