Mercer County Community College’s Black History Month programming continues on Saturday, February 11, with the “Generational Wealth Summit,” which will feature “three free financially focused workshops” in collaboration with the institution’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at MCCC’s Kelsey Theatre, located on the institution’s West Windsor Campus, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Registration for the free summit, provided by the Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce, is available via Eventbrite both earlier and later sessions are available on the topic of financial literacy, teaching “the basics” of the subject in terms of “budgeting, saving, long term planning” and more, from 11 a.m. to noon, then 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
The NACA Home Buyer workshop will also inform participants of the first part of its “Ten Steps to Home Ownership,” where they “will learn the details about the NACA program and the home buying or refinancing process” over a four-hour period.
According to Eventbrite, in addition to the workshops, Kelsey Theatre will also host two performances of the Virginia Repertory Theatre’s show, “The Maggie Walker Story,” at 1 and 4 p.m. Tickets for the show are available via the “Generational Wealth Summit” Eventbrite page and priced at $6 each for children, $14 for seniors, and $16 for adults.
The play is based on the life and achievements of Walker, whose entrepreneurial efforts led her to “becoming the nation’s first woman bank president and a powerful force in civil rights,” according to the theatre website.
The production is described as follows: “The child of a freed slave, Maggie Walker was born in 1864 in the Virginia home of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union spy. When she was nine, Maggie’s father was murdered and her mother had no money to bury him. Young Maggie joined the order of St. Luke, a national savings group formed to pay the burial expenses of poor blacks. As a high school senior, Maggie helped to establish an appropriate graduation for her class by organizing the nation’s first civil rights strike by black students.”
Then, as the Kelsey Theatre website continues, Walker “led and expanded St. Luke’s,” making history in the process.
The show will “cap the afternoon” of events at MCCC, which will be organizing Black History Month activities throughout the rest of February.
Other events include three “Film and Chat” sessions, held Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m. in room CM 108 on the MCCC campus. The films are “Fruitvale Station,” the story about the death of Oscar Grant in Oakland, California, on February 9; “The Hate You Give,” a story about a young African American woman who confronts racism in her own community after a tragic police shooting, on February 16; and “Judas and the Black Messiah,” a short biopic on the life of Fred Hampton of the Illinois Black Panther Party, on February 23.
Additionally, on Monday, February 20 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Student Center is “Before the Glory: Stories of Overcoming Adversity for the Win.” The event features three former Phillies players Steve Jeltz, Ben Revere, and Milt Thompson, who will share their stories of accomplishment and adversity on their way to success.
Closing ceremonies take place on Tuesday, February 28, from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. featuring renowned teacher and New Jersey activist Zellie Thomas, who will speak about the impact of activism and advocacy in the Black community. The event will also bestreamed via Zoom.
For more information on MCCC’s programming for Black History Month, see the corresponding page at its website, mccc.edu. For more information on “Maggie Walker,” see the Kelsey Theatre website at kelsey.mccc.edu/index.shtml.
