PIQUA — The Diversity Committee at Edison State Community College will present three events to celebrate Black History Month.

The events, which focus on unity, begin Wednesday, Feb. 17, and conclude Feb. 29. All events will be on the Piqua campus and are free and open to the public.

The historical documentary, “Ties that Bind: From Swastika to Jim Crow,” will be screened Wednesday at noon. A brief discussion will follow the one-hour documentary, which tells the previously untold story of German Jewish professors who, expelled from their homeland by the Nazis, found new lives and careers at historically-black colleges and universities in the South.

Shane Carter, executive director of the Lincoln Community Center in Troy, will lead a town hall discussion, “Reflection on Unity,” Feb. 24 at noon in the school cafeteria.

Carter will speak to the value of acceptance and moving forward in today’s quest for unity. His presentation will include excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the relationship he had with Piqua’s William McCulloch.

The third event will be Feb. 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will begin with a social hour that will include refreshments, followed by performances by African-American and gospel dance groups, musicians, poetry readings, trivia and an address by Elizabeth “Liz” Stafford, of Troy, “Unity for All People.”

Stafford is a retired teacher. She began her career as the first African–American female to teach health and physical education, including swimming, in Ohio. In 1977, she joined the teaching staff at Piqua’s Bennett Junior High School, where she taught eighth-grade language arts and social studies for 15 years. Her passion for helping youth led to founding New Union of Blacks Improving America and starting a clothing business, which she used to help students with self-esteem issues.

Today, Stafford is a member and one of the founders of New Life Baptist Church in Troy.

For information, call 937-778-7908 or email [email protected].