Award-winning Ethiopian-American Singer to Speak in Celebration of Black History Month

Meklit Hadero, an award winning Ethiopian-American singer, will be at Grinnell College on Friday, Feb. 24, to speak in celebration of Black History Month. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 6 p.m. in room 101 of the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, 1115 Eighth Ave., Grinnell.

Hadero was born in Ethiopia and has been a fixture of the San Francisco composing and performance scene for the past 12 years. Her music is influenced equally by San Francisco and Ethiopia. Her third album, "This Was Made Here," was produced by Dan Wilson, who has also worked with artists such as Adele, John Legend, and the Dixie Chicks.

Hadero's talk, "Global Diaspora: Art, Culture and Pan-Africanism," will explore the connections between the Global African Diaspora, highlighting both 20th and 21st century ideas of Pan-Africanism. It will explore the reflection of the arts and cultural movements within the diaspora, and introduce new pathways for connections within the American context.

The college's Intercultural Affairs Office is organizing and sponsoring the event, which is co-sponsored by the American Studies Department, the Black Cultural Center, the Center for Humanities and the Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Department.

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations.

The College welcomes the presence of minors at all age-appropriate public events and for informal visits, with the understanding that a parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult assumes full responsibility for their child’s safety and behavior during such visits or events. In these cases, the College expects that an adult responsible for the visiting child takes measures to ensure the child’s safety and sees that the child complies with directions of College personnel. Grinnell College is not responsible for supervision of minors on campus.