Ohio Northern University commemorates Black History Month this February with a number of scheduled events. Several campus organizations will collaborate to provide diverse opportunities to celebrate African-American heritage. Here is the schedule of February’s activities:

Cultural Conversation Hour
“Thug Life: Beiber vs. Sherman”
Tuesday, Feb. 11
11 a.m.-noon
Heterick 301
Join us for a discussion on whether race in the media influences our perspective. Lunch will be served.

Annual Kuumba Festival
Friday, Feb. 14
7-9 p.m.
Dicke Forum
The festival’s master of ceremonies will be dynamic speaker, singer and motivator MarQo Patton, music business instructor at Pearl Cohn Comprehensive High School in Nashville, Tenn.

Speaker: Ya’Ke Smith
“Art Reflecting Life, Life Reflecting Art: Cinema as a Social Tool”
Thursday, Feb. 20
7 p.m.
McIntosh Center Activities Room
Ya’Ke Smith is a filmmaker whose work has won awards at more than 80 film festivals. His short, “Katrina’s Son,” was eligible for the 2012 Academy Award in short filmmaking, and his debut feature, “Wolf,” won several awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Texas Feature at the Dallas International Film Festival. During his lecture, Smith will discuss his experience as a filmmaker and how his work seeks to debunk negative stereotypes, while sometimes using those same stereotypes to expose truths in the Black community.

Annual Diversity Forum
Friday, Feb. 21
11 a.m.
Large Moot Court Room
Sponsored by the Black Law Student Association

Annual Black History Month Fashion Show
Friday, Feb. 21
7 p.m.
McIntosh Center Activities Room

Annual Soul Food Dinner
Sunday, Feb. 23
5-8 p.m.
Affinity Commons