Frontlist | Black History Month speakers available for virtual events

Frontlist | Black History Month speakers available for virtual events
on Jan 13, 2021

Libraries, schools, senior centers, and other not-for-profit organizations are invited to book speakers through the Humanities Nebraska Speakers Bureau for Black History Month programming in February. Humanities Nebraska (HN) subsidizes costs to make these professional speakers widely available throughout the state. Many speakers are available for both virtual and in-person events, allowing organizers and speakers to determine what is the most prudent form of presentation for their audience and social distancing concerns. Topics range from Audacious — the largest African-American settlement in Nebraska — to African-American art forms, to biographies about famous African-American people, to historic accounts. “Each one of these programs is a way to learn more about the African-American experience, which helps build understanding and create connections,” said Mary Yager, associate director. Since last summer, HN has allowed organizations to pay a reduced processing fee ($25) to book a speaker for a virtual program through Facebook Live, Zoom, or a similar online platform. If the organization and speaker agree to publicly post the recorded program via a platform such as YouTube, HN will waive the processing fee entirely. The hosting organization and the speaker will work together on the details of the program as they do with a usual in-person program. Application for a speaker must be made at least 30 days in advance of the desired program date HN recently revamped its online Speakers Bureau catalog to make it easier to search for topics. Interested organizations can view the catalog and find application requirements at humanitiesnebraska.org/catalog. Humanities Nebraska is a statewide nonprofit that helps Nebraskans explore what connects us and makes us human. HN is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, an appropriation from the Nebraska Legislature, private donations, and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, a public-private partnership with state dollars matching private dollars to benefit the arts and humanities in Nebraska. Source: krvn.com