The whole month of February is dedicated to the history of African Americans. In order to celebrate Black History month, here is a list of wonderful events you can attend!

Edna Patterson-Petty
African-American Contemporary Quilts

Where:

Ottawa Art Gallery

Arts Court, 2 Daly Ave, Contemporary galleries 1 & 3

When:

December 2011 – 19 February 2012

What:

Edna Patterson-Petty’s African-American Contemporary Quilts

The contemporary art-quilts of East St. Louis, Illinois artist Edna J. Patterson-Petty are improvisational and ‘jazzy’ in their aesthetic quality. They function as conveyors of memories and histories of place slavery, race and racism, community and self-emancipation. The quilts in this exhibition not only speak about adversity, they are testaments of the 
inventiveness of African-American culture as expressed in the syncopated jazz beat.

More info on exhibition at:

http://ottawaartgallery.ca/exhibits/2011/edna-patterson/index-en.php

Curated by Andrea Fatona, Guest Curator. Sponsored by U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section.

Gallery Hours:

Monday: closed; Tuesday: 10am to 6pm; Wednesday: 10am to 6pm; Thursday: 10am to 8pm; Friday: 10am to 8pm; Saturday: 11am to 6 pm; Sunday: 11am to 6 pm.

Admission:

“Pay-What-You-Can”

Information:

Tel.: (613) 233-8699

info@ottawaartgallery.ca

www.ottawaartgallery.ca

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Black History Month – Poetry and Paint

When:

Saturday February 18 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm

Where:

Main library branch, 2nd floor in the Children’s Department.

120 Metcalfe

Ottawa, K1P 5M2

(613) 580-2945

What:

Learn about slam poetry and see how to connect the beauty of words to paint. Offered in collaboration with the Library Settlement Partnership (LSP): Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO), and Ottawa Public Library.

Admission:

Ages 8-13

Call (613) 580-2945 ext 32119 to register.

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THE WALK (a play about trafficked girls)

When:

8 pm
 Friday Feb. 3 to Sunday Feb. 5 & Feb. 10 – 12

Where:

Natalie Stern Studio Theatre,

294 Picton Ave. (Westboro)

What:

Moon Dog Theatre in association with PACT-Ottawa (Persons Against the Crime of Trafficking in humans) present: THE WALK (a play about trafficked girls).

SYNOPSIS:

Celestine, a Nigerian who was a sex slave for eight years in Italy, is now struggling to raise her infant son in Canada. Her story is at the heart of this drama about three wildly incompatible Canadians trying to write a play about sex trafficking and its impact on young women from around the world. Very powerful and believable, leaving many a tearful eye in its wake. (Rajka Stefanovska Capital Critics Circle).

Admission:

$20 in advance / $22 at the door

Information:

Catherine at (613) 733 0776

moondogtheatre@rogers.com

www.moondogtheatre.com

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Safari-Afrika

When:

Saturday February 4^th at 7:30pm

Where:

Library & Archives Canada,

395 Wellington Street

Admission:

$10 in advance & $15 at the door.

Children under 10 years: $5

Presented by:

African Heritage Centre, Dsfiena and African Festival. Join us to share some of the rich heritage from Africa and Latin America, which is now part of Ottawa cultural mosaic.

Information:

Mama Rosa Chiombola

(613) 860-3022

africanheritagecentre93@gmail.com

www.africanheritagecentre.jimdo.com

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Public Lecture: Professor Charmaine Nelson, McGill University

Ottawa Public Library auditorium

When:

Thursday, February 9 from 4.00 – 6.00 p.m.

Where:

120 Metcalfe Street

What:

Public Lecture: Professor Charmaine Nelson, McGill University

Ottawa Public Library auditorium

Admission:

Free admission

Presented by:

The Common Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. Keynote address by Professor Charmaine Nelson, Dept. Of Art History and Communications Studies, McGill University. She is the author of The Color of Stone: Sculpting Black Female Subjects in Nineteenth-Century America (2007) and Representing the Black Female Subject in Western Art (2010). Her most recent book is Ebony Roots, Northern Soil: Perspectives on Blackness in Canada (2010). Her new manuscript project examines nineteenth-century landscapes of Montreal and Jamaica, through critical readings of geography, topography, colonial commerce and travel.

Information:

Professor Joanne St. Lewis,

(613) 562-5794

joanne.stlewis@uottawa.ca

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Children Stories in the Diaspora

When:

Sunday, February 12 from 2.00 – 4.00 p.m.

Where:

Ottawa Public Library

Nepean Centrepointe Branch

Children Program Room

101 Centrepointe Drive

Free Admission.

Donations to Black History Ottawa gratefully accepted

What:

Listen to readers from the black community share children’s stories written by black authors from the diaspora. Books from the library will be on display and a local bookseller, Sankofa Bookstore, will have books for sale on site. All are welcome to attend this family event. A partnership between the Ottawa Public Library and Black History Ottawa.

Information:

bhottawa@yahoo.ca

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Youth and Children Talent Show Case

Where:

The Ottawa Church of God

1820 Carling Ave (at Maitland Ave)

When:

Sunday, February 12 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Admission:

An offering will be collected in support of Junior Talent 2012. An inspirational night to highlight the talent of our youth and children, in stories of inclusion, dance, poetry, drama and songs.

Information:

Carol Campbell

(613) 294-6750

carolrdaley@yahoo.ca

Joel Charles

(613) 729-3172 ext 2

Joelcharles@hotmail.com

www.ottawaocg.org

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Black History Month Tribute - Living History: The evolution of the Black Business Woman

When:

Wednesday, February 15 at 6.00pm.

Where:

Ottawa Community Immigrant Organisation (OCISO)

945 Wellington Street

Admission:

Members $15. Non-members $30

Presented by:

The Network of Black Business & Professional Women

What:

This event will reflect on and pay tribute to the women who have laid the foundation for and helped to create the successful Black Business Women in our community.

Information:

Susanne Griffiths

(613) 797-1405

susannegriffith@ca.inter.net

Stacey Walker

(613) 979-1184

hineswalkerenterprises@gmail.com

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Ujimaa Job Fair
Carleton University Unicentre

What:

Ujimaa Job Fair
Carleton University Unicentre

Where:

1125 Colonel By Drive Ottawa, ON

Our organization will be hosting the Ujimaa Job Fair to assist local minority youth in finding summer employment and work experience.

When:

Saturday February 18th from 11am – 4 pm

Information:

Tel.: 613-567-0600

Email: info@jakukonbit.com

Website: www.jakukonbit.com

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Black Youth Conference Day

What:

Black Youth Conference Day – 
”Black Like Who?  Black Like Me!”

When:

Friday, February 24 from 9:00am – 4:00pm

Information:

3dreads@gmail.com

www.3dreads.com

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BlackYouthaPalooza

When:

Saturday, February 25 from 11:00am-4:00pm

What:

Black Like Who? Black Like Me!

Celebrating our community’s Young, Gifted, and Black

Information:

3dreads@gmail.com

www.3dreads.com

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Singin’ in the Spirit

When:

Saturday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m.

Where:

Ottawa Seventh-Day Adventist Church

2200 Benjamin Ave. (Woodroffe Ave & Highway 417)

What:

A musical celebration of the black experience through spirituals and gospel music, featuring choirs, soloists and instrumentalists

Admission:

Donation to local charity

Information:

Janice Anderson

613-728-8178

jann498@yahoo.com

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Global Community Alliance Gala Night

Where:

Sheraton Ottawa Hotel

150 Albert Street

When:

Saturday, February 25 from 6:00pm – 1:00am

Admission:

$55 per person (with complimentary cocktails)

Note: Advance tickets only.

Presented by:

The Global Community Alliance, this event will highlight the diversity that fosters unity within the Ottawa community, raise awareness of some of the issues in the community and recognize the efforts of individuals, associations, businesses and organizations that make a significant difference within our Global Community.  In addition, the Gala Night will feature a keynote speaker, prominent members of the community and enlightening entertainment for the evening.  Proceeds from this event will be donated to Black History Ottawa.

Information:

Yomi or Kelly Pratt

613-824-6392

Yomipratt@hotmail.com

rsaborn@hotmail.com

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Afroculture: the Cultural Festival

Where:

Shenkman Arts Centre

When:

March 1: 5:30pm – 9:00pm

March 2 & 3: 10:00am – 8:00pm

Admission:

$15/person (Festival Passport)

Presented by:

Action et Développement Jeunesse, this annual event illustrates a positive and dynamic representation of Ethnocultural Communities in Canada. This event will feature artists like Groupe des Arts Bassan, Bertin Nzangue, Les Cobras du Mandingue, El Hadj ; A spectacular cultural/exotic Fashion Show and food. There will also be a kids village and cultural exhibition. This event is partly funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Government of Canada.

Information:

Patrice Essindi

613-265-2628

info@festivaldescultures.ca

“Luca Spaghetti is not only one of my favorite people in the world, but also a natural-born storyteller.”- Elizabeth Gilbert, author Eat, Pray, Love.

Ottawa – The Italy portion of Elizabeth Gilbert’s hugely successful international bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, with its descriptions of delicious food, gorgeous scenery, passionate people, and wonderful hedonism was the crowd-pleaser for many of its millions of readers. It wasn’t just Liz’s mouthwatering descriptions of the food that readers fell in love with, but the stories of the warm and welcoming friends she made in Rome. The most memorable and captivating of these was undoubtedly the inimitable Luca Spaghetti, Gilbert’s close friend and guide to “la dolce vita” in Rome.

Now, Luca Spaghetti is sharing his wonderful story with Ottawa audiences.  You, too, can take a little time out to experience “la dolce vita” first-hand.  Spend an evening in the company of a first-class storyteller whose infectious ebullience, wry humour and charming and hilarious anecdotes immerse the listener in a world of speeding vespas, flowing chianti, heaping plates of steaming, aromatic pastas, and beauty (human and architectural) on every street corner.  Oh, and let’s not forget a very special friendship with a certain American writer.   Share in the magic of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Roman experiences – let her guide, take you through cobbled streets where traffic jams erupt in street theatre and starlit nights invite torrid romance.

Eat, Pray, Love in Ottawa with Luca Spaghetti offers Ottawans two delightful events just in time for Valentine’s Day:

Sweet Valentine’s

Friday, February 10, 2012

7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

St. Anthony’s Banquet Hall, 523 St. Anthony Street

Tickets: $50 (includes taxes and dessert)

To purchase with a credit card visit www.showoneproductions.ca

Call: 613 747 6054 to reserve tickets to pick up at the door – cash only

Luca Spaghetti entertains in a casual evening of storytelling and music – dessert buffet will be served.  Cash bar.

Romance Roman Style

Romantic four course dinner with wine

Saturday, February 11, 2012

7:00 p.m.

DiVino Wine Studio, 225 Preston Street

Tickets: $100 (includes dinner, wine and all taxes) – LIMITED SEATING

CALL: 613 221 9760 ext. 21

Luca Spaghetti shares his love of food, prepares a little pasta, and paints a delicious portrait of life Roman-style in an exclusive dinner for 60.

Since becoming friends with Elizabeth Gilbert, Luca Spaghetti’s life has taken many unexpected and delightful turns.  Not only did he find himself represented as the quintessential Roman in Eat, Pray, Love – a character beloved to all who read the book; but he saw himself portrayed on screen in the smash hit film of the book starring Julia Roberts.  And that’s not all, Luca himself turned his hand to writing, penning the enchanting Un Amico Italiano: Eat, Pray, Love in Rome told in three parts, each one full of colorful anecdotes relating to food, language, art, soccer, music, and everyday life in beautiful Rome, not to mention his experiences as part of the international Eat, Pray, Love phenomenon.

An evening with Luca Spaghetti is the perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day – with a special someone, a best friend, or even a girls’ night out – Luca will delight with tales of life growing up in Rome, his fascination with North American culture and all things James Taylor. He’ll share favorite Roman recipes, play a little music, and give us the inside scoop on his meteoric introduction to the world of international literary success via his incredible friendship with Elizabeth Gilbert.

Both events are in English (and of course a little Italian!)

Eat, Pray, Love in Ottawa with Luca Spaghetti is a presentation of LOF Communications, Esploritalia, and Show One Productions

For more information, contact:

Laura Denker, LOF Communications

laura@lofcomm.com

613 299 8844

Guest Speaker: Barbara McInnes, President and CEO, community Foundation of Ottawa

Barbara has overseen the growth of the Foundation since its inception in 1987 to the eighth largest community foundation in Canada. Awarded the Order of Canada in 2008 for her contributions to the community foundation movement

in Canada, she was a founding director on the Board of Community Foundations of Canada for 12 years. She has worked with the Council on Foundations and with the  transatlantic Community Foundation Network. She has been a Governor of Carleton University, President of the Ottawa Estate Planning Council and of the Ottawa School of Art, and Board member of United Way.

Topic: Reflections on a Quarter Century of Nurturing Community Philanthropy

The meeting is Open to the Public.

Date: Monday, February  6, 2012

Time: 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM

Venue: St. Timothy’s Presbyterian Church

Address:

2400 Alta Vista Drive

Ottawa ON

K1H 7N1

Website: www.cfuw-ottawa.org/events

URL: www.usc-canada.org/lappe

Venue: St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts

Address: 310 St. Patrick Street

Cost:$10.00

Age Restriction: AA

Comments: USC Canada presents an inspiring evening with the visionary author of the ground-breaking Diet for a Small Planet (1971), Frances Moore Lappé.

Based on her new book, EcoMind, Lappé confronts our current myths about markets, food, and environmental issues, challenging us to change the way we think so we can create the world we want. For ticket information go to www.usc-canada.org/lappe. If you have any questions please contact Julia by email (jlaforge@usc-canada.org) or by phone (613-234-6827 ext.225)

Venue:
Simard 129

Address:
60 University, Ottawa, ON

Cost:
Free

Age Restriction:
18+

Comments: 
For the last few years, an ongoing debate exists in Canada and in Europe about the
need to require journalists to have a professional accreditation, to treat their
craft as a profession in the same way we treat a doctor or a lawyer. The importance
of the question increased with the most recent economic crisis where the quality of
journalism was left in doubt. The subject has also been discussed at length by the 
Groupe de travail sur le journalisme et l’avenir de l’information au Québec. And,
the debate is raised every time we ask a journalist to reveal his sources because we
assume that if he were protected by a professional statute, he would not have to do
it.  Regardless of the situation, there are a number of questions that remain:

•Who is fundamentally a journalist?

•What are the parameters that can be employed to circumscribe the so-called
profession?

•What would be the impact of having an organization that would regulate the
profession in a formal way?

•What would be the effect of the professionalization on the news offering?

•How will the professionalization assist journalists in the practice of their craft? 

With these questions, we indulge once again in a debate with:

•Marc-François Bernier – Associate professor and Research Chair in communication of
the Canadian Francophonie, specializing in journalism ethics 

•Anaïs Elboujdaïni – Editor in chief of La Rotonde

•Tonda MacCharles – Journalist for the Toronto Star

•Klaus Pohle – Associate professor at Carleton University

When? : January 11th 2012 at 1 p.m.

Where ?: University of Ottawa, Simard building, room 129

For more information, please contact gbonin@uottawa.ca

Free admission, come one come all!

Time: 
9.30 ; 12.30

Venue:
Sandy Hill Community Centre, Main Hall

Address:
250 Somerset East (at Sweetland)

Cost:
$Free (suggested donation of $0-$20)

Age Restriction:
AA

Comments: 
Growing Healthy Communities – Children, Youth and Food in Ottawa    Fri Nov
25, 2011, Ottawa, ON

Join us in a community discussion to celebrate initiatives that increase access to
healthy, nutritious, sustainable food for children and youth in Ottawa.

This event will serve as a forum to discuss the current climate of food access for
children and youth, our success stories, lessons learned and ways forward to further improve upon the landscape of food for children in Ottawa.

www.alternativetrade.com/festival.htm

Venue:
Ottawa Mennonite Church

Address:
1830 Kilborn Avenue

Ottawa, ON

Age Restriction:
AA

Times:
November 18th & 25th: 3:00 – 8:00pm
November 19th & 26th: 10:00am – 4:00pm

Comments: 
Reach out to the world this Christmas through fair trade gifts! Browse a large selection of coffees and chocolates, Christmas ornaments, pottery, jewelry and other fairly-traded goods from artisans in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Living gift donations will also be available. Living gifts are donations made in a loved one’s name to provide education, clean water or food to men, women and children in developing countries. On Saturdays, make a day of it and enjoy homemade borscht and desserts in the tearoom. 

For more information: visit www.alternativetrade.com/festival.htm or call 613-599-3112

Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health
www.wabano.com/events
299 Montreal Rd.

Ottawa, ON

K1L 6B8  Cost: $Free  Age Restriction: AA  Join us for the launch of Albert Dumons new children's book "The Maple Leaves of Kichi Makwa".  Downstairs in the common room. Author will be signing copies.  5:30 to 7:30 pm

Every year at the Children’s Wish Foundation, thousands of individuals come together in communities across Canada to walk and raise funds to create the magic of a wish for Canadian children living with life threatening illnesses.

Join us and start fundraising today to make a real difference in the lives of children and their families.

Dows Lake 8211; HMCS Carleton Sea Cadets/ Navy League
79 Prince of Wales Dr. Ottawa, ON

http://www.wishmaker.ca

Three time paralympian and world champion Jason Dunkerley, and Noella Klawitter,
Canadian paralympic record holder, both London 2012 hopefuls, offer an intriguing
and stimulating talk at La Grange de la Gatineau.

Join us as they discuss paralympic running, overcoming adversity, being visual
impaired in the prime of youth, and what it takes to compete at a world class level.

Time: October 19, 2011 at 7pm

Admission: Pay-what-you-can

Reservations required by email info@grange.ca or by phone 819.827.3164

La Grange de la Gatineau
80 Chemin Summer
Cantley, QC J8V 3J3

http://www.grange.ca

Have You Ever Met, presented monthly, is a program for interesting and inspirational
people from all walks of life to share their stories and engage in informal
discussion, salon-style.

Call/email us or visit our website regularly for more information.