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Welcome to the Black Iowa News Events Calendar. Inside you will find a list of events I’ll curate weekly. The calendar will also contain a list of regular city and school board meetings. So if you’re looking for something fun to do, something new to learn in person or virtually, or if you're searching for an upcoming meeting, peruse the calendar.
📆If you have an event to publicize, please email dana@blackiowanews.com. In the subject line of the email put: BIN Calendar. Please include the event or meeting in the following order: time, date, place and cost. Also include photos, links and files. *If the date of a meeting or event changes after publication, please email me and I will update the website. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me. Thank you.
Write to your Legislator: Iowa Democratic Black Caucus
ZOOM: 6 p.m. Learn how to write to your legislator. Hosted by Al Womble, chair of the Iowa Democratic Black Caucus. Event link.
Critical Conversations: Black-Eyed Peas! New Year’s and other Black traditions
ZOOM: 7 p.m. What do you eat for New Year’s? Join the call for a deep dive into topics about race and more. Hosted by Ruth White, founder and executive director, and Eric McKinley Thompson, director of summer programs, for The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, Betty Daniels of Waypoint Services and in partnership with the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission. This event is part of an ongoing series.
Social Gospel Preachers' Rally: Holding Systems Accountable
In Person: Noon, Jan. 15. Jubilee UMC Freedom Center, 1621 E. 4th St. Waterloo 50703.
Local pastors will come together to address/redress problematic social issues like poverty, educational inequity, violence, suppression of the vote and more. Jubilee United Methodist Church is hosting the event. Facebook event link.
YMCA of Greater Des Moines 9th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Prayer Breakfast
ZOOM: 7:30 a.m. The event will celebrate the legacy of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. The event features Jelani Cobb, writer, educator and commentator who will deliver the keynote address. Betty Andrews will receive the Make-A-Difference award for her contributions to social justice throughout the state. Andrews is president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP. Goodwill donations will also be taken to support youth programs. Registration link.
Martin Luther King (1929-68). American black civil rights campaigner. (Photo by: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
🌆City: Council meetings and agendas
🚸School: Des Moines School board meetings. The board meets at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of most months.
🌆City: Council meetings and agendas
🚸School: West Des Moines school board meetings. School board meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays at 7 p.m. Workshops before the meetings are held at 5:15 p.m.
🌆City: Council meetings and agendas
🚸School: Johnston school board meetings
Governor’s Condition of the State Address
Iowa PBS/Governor’s Facebook page: 6 p.m. Jan. 11: Governor Kim Reynolds will deliver an annual Condition of the State address.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds speaks during an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board Meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on June 26, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Friday, Jan. 21
Iowa Civil Rights Commission
MEETING: 2 p.m. Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
Thursday, Jan. 27
Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Commission
MEETING: 4:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Richard A. Clark Municipal Service Center 2nd floor boardroom, 1551 E. MLK Jr. PKWY, Des Moines 50309.
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Email events to dana@blackiowanews.com.
