DAVENPORT, Iowa — All throughout February, The Lincoln Center in Davenport is celebrating Black History Month. It started with its “Sunday Matinee Music Series" on Feb. 6 and continued on Saturday, Feb. 12 with "Black History Month in the Village."
Saturday's event included food, art and "wax museum" presentations.
"There is no community celebration for the Quad Cities to honor and celebrate everything wonderful that has happened in Black history," said executive director Tracy Singleton.
She wants The Lincoln Center to be a space for a community celebration that everyone can be involved in.
"I'm a big proponent of education and engagement equal understanding, right?" Singleton said. "So this, our doors are open for everybody to come in to learn about historical figures in Black history, learn about Black invention, learn about the culture of soul food and experience it at the same time ... But to create these spaces for us, so that we know that this is for us. This is by us. And this is about us."
The Third Missionary Baptist Church took part in the festivities. Four girls gave "wax museum presentations" on Michelle Obama, Maya Angelou, Simon Biles and Florence Griffith Joyner.
The girls researched and dressed up as their characters, decorated poster boards and when someone rang the bell at their station, they would stand up and give a speech.
"A lot of times in schools, they don't learn that," said youth director Rolanda Butler. "We just want to do this as a way for them to learn about, like I said before, our culture and people that (have) paved the way for them."
Singleton added that celebrating Black History Month is also a way to learn and recognize the nuanced history of Black people.
"A lot of times when we say Black history, you're thinking slavery, you're thinking desegregation, you're thinking civil rights," she said. "But we are to be celebrated because in spite of all of those things, we are still the greatest athletes and the greatest singers and the greatest actors. And there was so much that as a race we have overcome and have still succeeded in anything that we wanted to do. So I think that's important that yes, we recognize the bad part of Black history because we lived it, we know it, some are still living it today. But there's so much good that can go along with that."
The Lincoln Center opened in early 2021, and Singleton said she hopes it will continue to expand as a community space.
"This is our responsibility to the community to have these types of events to not only celebrate us, but to give the greater community an opportunity to be a part of what we're doing and what we're trying to teach," she said.
In two weekends, during the last weekend in February, Singleton said the center will be featuring Motown and music from the 1970s.
There will be two more "Sunday Matinee Music Series" days on Feb. 20 and 27 beginning at 2 p.m.