Lansing-area Black History Month events

Feb. 5:  "A Tribute to the Duke." “Flint´s jazz ambassador” Sherm Mitchell joins the LCC Faculty Jazz Quartet for a performance featuring the music of Duke Ellington. 7 p.m. FREE, Dart Auditorium, 500 Capitol Ave. Lansing. (517) 372-0945.

Feb. 7: "Slavery to Freedom Series: Donzaleigh Abernathy." The award-winning playwright, actor, director and daughter of civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy is the first speaker during the 13th annual Visiting Faculty Lecture Series. 5 p.m. FREE. Big Ten A, Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. 219 S. Harrison Road, East Lansing. (517) 432-4979.

Feb. 8: “The Will,” by Sandra Seaton. A special dress rehearsal performance of Seaton´s play about an African-American family during the end of the Civil War. Proceeds benefit the St. Stephens Community Outreach. 7:30 p.m. $10. St. Stephens Community Church. 1007 Kimberly Drive, Lansing. (517) 484-2180.

Feb. 14: "Slavery to Freedom Series: Dr. Vincent Harding." Harding, an active civil rights advocate, established a center in Atlanta for nonviolence and wrote the original draft of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.´s 1967 Vietnam opposition speech, “A Time to Break Silence.” 5 p.m. FREE. Pasant Theatre, Wharton Center. MSU campus, East Lansing. (517) 432-4979.

Feb. 16: "Jazz 4 the Lil 1s." MSU Professor of Jazz Studies Rodney Whitaker and his quintet will perform an interactive, improvisational concert for all ages. 2 p.m. FREE. East Lansing Public Library Meeting Room, 950 Abbot Road, East Lansing. (517) 351-2420.

Feb. 19: "The Third City and America." MSU sociology professor Carl Taylor discusses the African-American community in Detroit, which is marginalized by social and economic status. The discussion will focus on the concept of underground societies. 7 p.m. FREE. East Lansing Public Library Meeting Room, 950 Abbot Road. (517) 351-2420.

Feb. 28: "Slavery to Freedom Series: Rev. James Lawson." Lawson is heavily involved in civil rights and nonviolent action, and teaches volunteers in Gandhian tactics and how to organize sit-ins. 5 p.m. FREE. Big Ten A, Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. 219 S. Harrison Road, East Lansing. (517) 432-4979.

Feb. 28: “Shaft” (1971). The classic blaxploitation movie, following a private detective (Richard Roundtree) who must find the missing daughter of a mobster. 7 p.m. FREE. East Lansing Public Library Meeting Room. 950 Abbot Road, East Lansing. (517) 351-2420.