Hennepin County Library Observes Black History Month

February is Black History Month and for the past several weeks the Hennepin County Library has been holding programs to commemorate it. One was Saturday at the Brooklyn Park Library. Playwright Michelle Perdue gave a reading of her play, “Elma Gene’s Journey to Freedom.”

The play centers on the kids who marched in the 1963 children’s crusade in Birmingham, Alabama, an event that’s been credited as pushing President Kennedy to support federal civil rights legislation.

“Children need to know that it’s important to stand up for what is right,” said Perdue. “No, we’re not living back in 1963 when we were living during Jim Crow laws. We’ve come so far, but yet we have so far to go.”

There’s still time to catch the last Black History Month library event. It’s tonight, Monday, Feb. 24, at New Rules in Minneapolis where a musical revue of early black vocalists such as Billie Holiday and Etta James will be held at 7 p.m.

Brandon Bankston, Reporting

Brooklyn Park