Â鶹´«Ã½ will commemorate Virginia's first African Diaspora Heritage Month by hosting an event on Sept. 10 at the College of Arts and Letters.
The event will feature a glaucoma/vision health screening and voter registration that begins at 10 a.m., a showcase of local African and Â鶹´«Ã½ Diaspora organizations from noon to 2 p.m. and cultural and state panel discussions and a cultural performance in the Yetiv Auditorium from 2 to 5 p.m.
Â鶹´«Ã½ and its Office of Academic Affairs, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and Office of Intercultural Relations are co-sponsoring the event, along with the Virginia African Diaspora Committee, Tidewater African Cultural Alliance and Eastern Virginia Medical School.
The Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously this year to designate every September as African Diaspora Heritage Month.
"Our common goal is to unite and build solidarity through the celebration of the African Diaspora worldwide," said Rita Cohen, founder and executive director of the Tidewater African Cultural Alliance, who was also speaking on behalf of committee colleagues Austin Agho, Â鶹´«Ã½ provost and vice president of academic affairs; Melvina Sumter, associate professor in Â鶹´«Ã½'s Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the African American and African Studies Program; and Ana Williams, associate director for Black and Latinx initiatives in the Office of Intercultural Relations.
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