Black History Month 2025 Events Planned In & Around Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Several events are planned in the Bridgeport area this February to observe Black History Month, which this year celebrates “African Americans and Labor."

Black History Month continues through Feb. 28. Since 1976, February has been recognized as a month to celebrate the achievements of African Americans and their role in U.S. history.

According to the founders of Black History Month, this year's 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."

The 2025 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor,” aims to highlight and celebrate the impact of that work.

In and around Bridgeport, the following events are planned:

Feb. 6, Westport Library: Harriet Tubman: Military Scout and Tenacious Visionary: Author Talk With Jean Marie Wiesen and Tubman's Descendant, Rita Daniels

In conjunction with Black History Month, The Westport Library invites you to celebrate the life and achievements of pivotal American abolitionist Harriet Tubman with author Jean Marie Wiesen and great-great-great grandniece of Harriet Tubman, Rita Daniels, as they speak on their new book, Harriet Tubman: Military Scout and Tenacious Visionary. This talk will be moderated by TEAM Westport chair Harold Bailey Jr.

Feb. 12, Fairfield University: Novelist Edwidge Danticat to Address Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation

Renowned novelist Edwidge Danticat will be Fairfield University’s keynote speaker at the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation. The lecture will take place on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The theme for this year’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance is “Beloved Community: Forging Justice, Peace, and Freedom.”

Feb. 15, Sacred Heart University Community Theatre, Fairfield (2/23, 2/27, 2/28): SHU Community Theatre Celebrates Black History Month with A Series Featuring Award-Winning Movies

In honor of Black History Month, SHU Community Theatre is proud to present a special Black History Month Film Series, showcasing powerful, award-winning films that celebrate Black voices, history, and storytelling.The series, running throughout February, highlights the contributions of Black artists, activists, and visionaries whose work continues to shape culture and inspire change. The range of films consists of gripping dramas, documentaries, and provocative masterpieces including “Do The Right Thing,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Selma,” “Moonlight,” and “I Am Not Your Negro.”

Feb. 15, Museum of Contemporary Art, Westport: Soulful Expressions: A Black History Month Celebration

Join us for a vibrant evening of music, poetry, dance, and community celebration at MoCA CT’s Soulful Expressions Night, part of our Black History Month event series. The evening will feature powerful spoken word poetry by Sahmra Sawyer, music by renowned pianist Joe Bush, and a dynamic dance performance by Jeffline Saint Louis.

Feb. 20, The Klein Memorial Auditorium, Bridgeport: Frederick Douglass: An American Slave

This well-received one-man play has been performed in venues across the country, including at the Douglass home in Washington, DC. The show has been recognized by the NAACP of Fairfield County and made its Klein debut with 2 shows in February 2019, an additional 3 shows in 2020, and first shows after Covid in 2024. Celebrate Black History Month and discover the world of one of the prominent leaders of the abolitionist movement; it's a revealing look at who Frederick Douglass was as a man, beyond him as a historical figure. The podium used in the set is the very podium that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at in 1961!

Feb. 24, Black Wall Street Bridgeport: Come Celebrate Black History With Amazing Vendors & Organizations!!

The first Black History Month observance was held nearly 100 years ago. Called Negro History Week at the time, it was established by Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson, the son of illiterate former slaves, who believed that the important contributions of Black Americans had been largely overlooked in published accounts of U.S. history.

Revered as the “father of Black History Month,” Woodson established the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1915 to create a social scientific collection recording and publicizing the accomplishments of Black Americans.