In this episode, The Daily reports on how the City of Evanston is celebrating Black History Month this year. The events are spearheaded by an informal committee within the City of Evanston and events are held at the library and other public spaces.
SHERRI ALLEN-REEVES AND TIA SINGLETON: I’m one of those people that Black history is 365 days, and so I’m always talking about it.
ISABELLA JACOB: That was Sherri Allen-Reeves and Tia Singleton, panelists for a Black History Month event hosted by the City of Evanston.
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ISABELLA JACOB: From the Daily Northwestern, I’m Isabella Jacob.
DIYA RAJ: And I’m Diya Raj. This is Everything Evanston, a podcast covering all things Evanston.
The City of Evanston created an informal committee for Black History Month in December of 2024. The committee was a collaborative effort spearheaded by Carmen Francellno, the family engagement coordinator for the Black community for the City of Evanston, that spanned Evanston libraries. The committee planned events for all ages that took place throughout the month.
On Feb. 15, the organizers put on a film screening of “10,000 Black Men Named George.”
CARMEN FRANCELLNO: The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, kind of chooses a theme each year for Black History Month and so this year it’s “African Americans and Labor,” hence why the film screening today of “10,000 Black Men Named George,” which talks about just the organizing of a labor union here for the Pullman Porters.
ISABELLA JACOB: Francellno and her team have organized a variety of events throughout the month of February. The City of Evanston held “A Panel Discussion On Breaking Barriers on Mental Health and Housing Insecurities” at the Robert Crown Branch Library.
Executive Director of Phoenix Foundation NFP in Chicago Allen-Reeves and Director of Case Management at Matthew House Chicago Singleton hosted the panel. Matthew House and Phoenix Foundation NFP are non-profit organizations that provide assistance to people experiencing homelessness.
Singleton and Allen-Reeves discussed their own experiences with mental health and homelessness. Singleton said that her personal experience exposed her to mental health in the Black community.
TIA SINGLETON: On a personal level, being a minister growing up in the Black church, being a Black person, I see consistently that we still suffer from the stigma of mental health, and we don’t make that brain-body connection that the brain is what makes the body work, and if it’s sick, then the whole body is sick.
DIYA RAJ: Allen-Reeves also works with individuals facing homelessness. When someone comes to her office seeking help, Allen-Reeves said her organization speaks with different behavior and health organizations, including federally qualified health centers. She then connects the individual to the service.
SHERRI ALLEN-REEVES: I think it’s important that, particularly in Black History Month, that we talk about the things that are impacting our community, right? Mental health is something that is impacting our community. Homelessness is something impacting our community. And if we don’t raise it now, then when?
DIYA RAJ: Allen-Reeves said she understands the stigma around mental health in her community as a generational issue rather than a new phenomena.
SHERRI ALLEN-REEVES: I think that also, historically, we would hide that, right? And we would hide that we had that person in our family who had those mental health challenges. And I think that raising it up brings it to light so that people are aware that it’s not making you right or wrong or good or bad, it’s just what’s up.
ISABELLA JACOB: To wrap up Black History Month, the City of Evanston hosted two events on Feb. 22, its last day of hosting events. This included “Books and Badges” — a K-5 event that’s in collaboration with the Evanston Police Department, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and children’s author Juleya Woodson to provide safety advice for kids.
The last event was a panel in the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre called “‘Black History 24/7/365: That Art Thing We Do’ Part II, A Conversation With Black Evanston Artists.” The panel was followed by a reception.
Francellno said she recognizes the importance of her team’s work to the Evanston community.
CARMEN FRANCELLNO: I have watched just changes in demographics over the last few years, and I feel like we Black residents, our population is dwindling a little bit here in Evanston, and so any opportunity that I personally can provide for the community to celebrate our Black history, to maybe learn something new that we may not be familiar with, I think it’s important. I just believe in general, as a culture, we are a part of American history, and so it is necessary, especially in today’s times, to highlight the important contributions that we’ve made to the country.
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ISABELLA JACOB: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Isabella Jacob.
DIYA RAJ: And I’m Diya Raj. Thanks for listening to another episode of Everything Evanston. This episode was reported and produced by Isabella Jacob, Ingrid Smith and Diya Raj.
The Audio Editor of The Daily Northwestern is Anavi Prakash. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Kelley Lu and Jillian Moore. The Editor in Chief is Lily Ogburn.
Our theme music is “Revolution” by Xennial, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
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Email: diyaraj2028@u.northwestern.edu
Email: izziejacob2028.1@u.northwestern.edu
Email: ingridsmith2028@u.northwestern.edu
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— Here’s how Northwestern is celebrating Black History Month
— Evanston celebrates Black History Month with educational, artistic programming
