In celebration of Black History Month, Central Oregon Community College will host several community offerings in February that highlight “Black triumph” and celebrate Black women and youth. Events include an empowerment retreat; two dinners with speakers and/or performers; a viewing of “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” and a community forum.
All events are free, although donations to the COCC Afrocentric Student Club and associated scholarships are always welcome, said Marcus LeGrand, Afrocentric Student Program and College Prep Coordinator at COCC. LeGrand, who’s also chair of the Bend-La Pine Schools Board of Directors, said he’s in his third year at the helm of the COCC Black History Month offerings. He grew up in North Carolina and then lived in various places while serving in the military and working in “corporate America,” which “allowed me to recognize that we have got a long way to go when it comes to putting out information not only equitably, but you know, just making sure it gets out, period.
“Growing up as a kid, in my neighborhood, when this time came around, you did everything you could to learn about all the various things that black Americans had contributed to this country,” said LeGrand, 56, who hopes community members young and old alike will turn out for the events. “Anytime I can get the community to really, truly engage, I want it to happen. This is for all ages. It’s never too early to start kids on their journey.”
This year’s programming will kick off with “The Power of Student Voice” retreat on Saturday, Feb. 7 from 9am to 2pm at the COCC Redmond Technology Education Center, located at 2324 SE College Loop in Redmond. The student-led retreat will “celebrate the power of gathering, learning and creating together” with participants exploring creativity and resilience, wellness, and personal branding and business acumen. There’ll be nine sessions that participants can choose from, breakfast and lunch will be provided, and the day will end with a “community conversation” on empowering Black women led by Shandell Landon, M.Ed., College of Health, OSU-Cascades.
“The students wanted something where they can showcase who they are but at the same time be able to engage with one another and go to classes and workshops just for them,” explained LeGrand.
On Tuesday, Feb. 10 from 6 to 8pm, there’ll be a screening of the “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” documentary at the Bend campus’ Wille Hall Event Space in the Coats Campus Center (2600 NW College Way). The documentary showcases Morrison’s prolific literary career and includes interviews with her and her peers and critics. The film traces her path from Lorain, Ohio, to the front line of activism alongside Angela Davis, while honoring the legacy she shared with other inspiring Black women, literary giants such as Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, and Nikki Giovanni. The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Stephanie André, chair of Humanities and professor of English Literature at COCC.
At the COCC Madras campus (1170 E. Ashwood Road in Madras) on Wednesday, Feb. 18, there’ll be a forum on “Where Community and Culture Collide.” Two sessions will be offered in the New Student Room, including one at Noon and another at 4:30 pm. The focus of the forums is to “help highlight the relationship between communities within Madras, Warm Springs, and others to help understand the importance of Black history and its many contributions that impact our lives.” There’ll be a display of artifacts and books, and a brief presentation about Black history facts. Both sessions will also include a drum-making activity for participants.
Capping off the Black History Month events are two dinners, including the “Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are” ritual dinner ceremony on Friday, Feb. 20 from 5 to 8 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon (61980 Skyline Ranch Road in Bend). The evening will focus on “the spirit of the middle passage” and how it has impacted lives, and continues to do so, and include performances from local artists. The “Middle Passage” refers to the violent journey from Africa to the Americas that millions of Africans endured after being captured and forced into slavery.
The second “celebration dinner,” with a theme of “Her Power, Our Resilience,” will be held on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 5 to 7 pm at the COCC Bend campus’ Wille Hall in the Coats Campus Center. The dinner will honor “the strength, brilliance, and legacy of Black women” and will be organized and run by COCC Afrocentric students.
Shekinah McLean, 19, is one of the COCC students who’s been working to plan the various events. The 2025 Mountain View High School graduate is a member of the COCC Afrocentric Centric Student Club and is helping organize the celebration dinner, which she said will feature poems, music, presentations and a guest speaker who’s still to be determined.
“Our theme is women’s empowerment. It’ll be catered toward all women and what’s going on in the world and making women feel supported,” she said, adding that she hopes people feel a kinship after coming together for the dinner. “Hopefully, people walk away with an understanding of what it is to be a Black individual and the weight that carries, but also the beauty in it. I hope they feel a sense of belonging. I feel like that’s really important.”
The Black History Month events, sponsored by the Afrocentric Studies Club, The Father’s Group, The Bridge (OSU-Cascades), Caldera Arts and the Oregon Commission on Black Affairs, tie in with COCC’s year-long Season for Nonviolence programming that honors nonviolent advocacy for human rights, inspired by a number of world leaders who preached nonviolence, including Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., César Chávez, and Chief Wilma Mankiller. This year marks the 18th year that COCC has hosted the Season for Nonviolence community events, which are free and this year are being co-presented by The Nancy R. Chandler Lecture Series and the COCC Office of Equity and Well-Being. Events include guest speakers, community book discussions, and artistic performances.
LeGrand said he hopes the Black History Month events and programming for the Season of Nonviolence at COCC help reinforce the positive aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion.
“It’s all about grace and empathy,” he said. “I think to really have the democracy we want it to be, I think we need to start looking at two different things: empathy and grace. And if we don’t start doing that? We’re going to have some problems. I know people will say, ‘He just wants to talk about DEI.’ But what is DEI if not empathy? People keep thinking that we’re trying to infiltrate and take over and do things to be able to put people in bondage like they did us. That’s not what we’re here for. We’re here for unity and togetherness and building really good community. If we continue to isolate, we continue to divide. We won’t be able to have a country left to be able to do what we want. And now, just to have the democracy we say we want, we’ve got some work to do, and we’ve got to find some empathy and grace.”
Black History Month Events
Throughout February
Central Oregon Community College Campuses
To register: cocc.edu/departments/multicultural/afrocentric/black-history-month
This article appears in the Source January 22, 2026.
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