On Wednesday, April 24, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Berkshire Country Day School will host a workshop with child psychologist Michael Thompson, Ph.D., based on the theme of his best-selling book “Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Community, Friendship, Social Power and Bullying in Childhood.”
Whitney Battle-Baptiste, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center and associate professor of anthropology at UMass Amherst, will be the keynote speaker at the fourth annual NAACP - Berkshire County Branch Freedom Awards dinner.
More than 35 singers and dancers rehearsed a performance piece choreographed to the song “We are Here” by Alicia Keys, the oft-repeated refrain of which is a fitting tribute to the nature of Du Bois’ work: “We are here. We are all here for all of us. That’s why we are here.”
UMass professor Whitney Battle-Baptiste and Du Bois' great-grandson Jeffrey Peck will emcee the event, which will also include a short film of the dedication of the W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site, a spoken-word performance and a dance piece.
The birthday events for Great Barrington's most famous native son seem to signal a newfound appreciation of the civil rights leader, who had not been fully embraced by the community because of his sometimes-controversial past.
All wanted to transform Clinton Church into a community gathering place that would preserve its history, honor civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois, and retain enough space for performances and other events.
The rededication event will celebrate the recent conservation treatment that restored the physical and historical integrity of Great Barrington's Newsboy Statue and will include a public viewing of the monument and working fountain.
For unknown reasons, Yolande’s grave was left without a headstone. Her grandchildren were unaware of where she was buried, until her grandson Arthur McFarlane II was informed of it during a visit in 2012.
