
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
2025
THE POWER OF BLACK LABOR
Sponsored by Synergy Bank
Black History Month programming brings people from all around the Bayou Region to campus. Dr. Melinda Jefferson, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice in the Department of Social Sciences, chairs the Black History Month Committee. The committee is made up of faculty and staff from various departments and student organizations on the Nicholls campus. Each year, the committee hosts events that are educational, cultural, and fun for the student body, the faculty and staff, and community members.
Black History Month 2025 will start a series of events to honor not only African American history across our nation but also the important African American history on our campus and within the local area. Lectures, panel discussions, musicals, plays, themed meals, open mic nights, and other activities are all part of the festivities. The planned events promote unity, diversity, and equality on campus and within the local community.
The 2025 National Black History Month theme is “The Power of Black Labor.” “The 2025 Black History Month theme focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Indeed, work is at the very center of much of Black history and culture. Be it the traditional agricultural labor of enslaved Africans that fed Low Country colonies, debates among Black educators on the importance of vocational training, self-help strategies and entrepreneurship in Black communities, or organized labor’s role in fighting both economic and social injustice, Black people’s work has been transformational throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora. The 2025 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor,” sets out to highlight and celebrate the potent impact of this work.”
EVENTS:

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January 26-28
“Memphis” The Musical

Time: 7 p.m. on January 26th, 6 p.m. on January 27th and 3 p.m. on January 28th
Location: Danos Theater
Description: Inspired by actual events, MEMPHIS is about a white radio DJ who wants to change the world and a black club singer who is ready for her big break. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves– filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock’n’roll.
For tickets, contact 985.448.4600
February 1
Negro Spiritual Master Class

Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Danos Theater
Description: Participate in our master class as we explore the authentic performance techniques used when singing the Negro Spiritual. The master class is open to collegiate and high school students. Not a singer? Don’t worry; feel free to participate and learn more about the Negro Spiritual with Professor Richard Hobson from Southern University in Baton Rouge, master class clinician. amazing dishes.
February 2
The Essence of Black Celebration (EOBC)

Time: 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Center of campus (behind student union, library/Talbot & Gouaux Hall)
Description: Second Essence of Black Celebration as a part of Nicholls’s Yearly Black History Month events. This historical event will continue to focus on cultivating the dynamics of diversity and celebrating and acknowledging the historical impact of Black Americans on visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more.
This event will be open to Nicholls campus, surrounding communities, and other Southern Louisiana colleges. Hosted by The University Counseling Center.