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SALISBURY, MD---¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ celebrates African American History Month with a series of discussions and special events in February.

Dr. Richard J.M. Blackett, Andrew Jackson Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, inaugurates this year’s events with the presentation “Taking Leave: How Fugitive Slaves Influenced the Debate Over the Future of Slavery” 7 p.m. Thursday, February 7, in the Wicomico Room of the Guerrieri Student Union.

Exploring the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Blackett discusses how fugitive slaves resisted the law, exacerbating a brewing conflict over the future of slavery.

The act penalized law enforcement officials who did not arrest alleged runaway slaves and rewarded those who did. Because those accused of being escaped slaves were not afforded trials or given legal rights in court, this effectively resulted in the legal kidnapping of some free African Americans and their conscription into slavery.

University Dining Services’ annual Soul Food Dinner, featuring the Bernard Sweetney Quartet, is 4:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, February 8, in the Commons. Cost is $14.20, $8.55 for children 6 and under.

That evening, SU students and community members are invited to share their performances on the theme of African American History Month during a Spoken Word and Open Mic Night beginning 6 p.m. in the Wicomico Room.

Dr. Martha S. Jones, Society of Black ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Presidential Professor at Johns Hopkins University, continues the series with the presentation “Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America” 7 p.m. Thursday, February 21, in Perdue Hall’s Bennett Family Auditorium.

Her presentation examines how African Americans claimed, pursued and won legal rights before the Civil War, personified by the travels of an African American from Baltimore who joined the U.S. Navy and sailed to San Francisco and Brazil in the 1850s.

The series concludes with a screening of the documentary Talking Black in America 6 p.m. Thursday, February 28, in Fulton Hall Room 111. The film chronicles the impact of African American English on U.S. language and culture. An SU faculty panel discussion follows.

SU’s African American History Month celebration is sponsored by the Multicultural Student Services Office, Fulton Public Humanities Program, SU Honors College, History Department, Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts, SU Libraries and University Dining Services.

Admission to all events is free unless otherwise noted. For more information call 410-548-3836 or visit the SU website.