Black History Month

Oprah Winfrey
We’re guessing this NAACP hall of famer would be found at the book release party for NAACP: Celebrating a Century, 100 Years in Pictures. Chairman Julian Bond and Crisis publisher Roger Wilkins will be on hand for a cocktail party and signing.
FREE Rizzoli Bookstore, 31 W 57th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves (212-344-7474, ext 105). Thu 19 5:30–7pm.

Malcolm X
“Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American,” Malcolm X said in his famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech, which you can hear at Malcolm X Speaks, a daylong listening experience at the Shabazz Center.
FREE 3940 Broadway between 165th and 166th Sts (212-568-1341). Sat 21 11am–5pm.

Jackie Robinson
There’s no crying in baseball, but there is music. Historians Lawrence D. Hogan and Robert Cvornyek discuss the connection during their lecture, “If It Ain’t Got That Swing: Black Baseball and Music in the Jim Crow Era.” Negro Leaguer Jim Robinson will be present.
FREE Countee Cullen Branch of the New York Public Library, 104 W 136th St between Malcolm X Blvd and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd (212-491-2070). Thu 19 at 6pm.

James Brown
Thousands of fans visited the Apollo after the Godfather of Soul died in 2006. Pay your respects during the Apollo’s Open House, which honors BHM and the venue’s 75th anniversary. Guests will take a backstage tour, learn about the theater’s history and see a mock Amateur Night performance.
FREE 253 W 125th St between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd and Frederick Douglass Blvd (212-531-5337). Sat 21 noon–5pm; Sun 22 2–7pm.

Colin Powell
You’ve probably noticed Serena Williams’s mug plastered on scaffolding across the city; she’s advertising Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell’s “The Black List Project,” portraits of 25 prominent African-Americans on display at the Brooklyn Museum. They also made a film, The Black List: Volume 1, which includes interviews with both Williams and Powell. (Look for an airing of The Black List: Volume 2 on HBO on February 26 at 8pm.) A chat with the filmmakers follows the screening.
200 Eastern Pkwy at Washington Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (718-638-5000). Sun 22 2–4pm, free with museum admission.

Rosa Parks
Parks and MLK are the most recognizable faces of the civil-rights movement, but there were countless other activists. “We want to change the anonymity,” says Rudy Lombard, moderator of “Voices, Past and Present—Civil Rights in the ’60s: Echoes of the Movement,” a panel at the CUNY Graduate Center. Participants include freedom rider Hank Thomas and Life photog Bob Adelman.
FREE 365 Fifth Ave between 34th and 35th Sts (212-817-8215). Wed 25 7–9pm.

Barack Obama
Big Onion’s Historic Harlem walking tour hits the Abyssinian Baptist Church, Apollo Theater and office of Bill Clinton, who is “considered by some to be the first black President,” says BO director Seth Kamil.
Meet at the corner of 135th St and Malcolm X Blvd (212-439-1090). Fri 20 at 1pm, $15.

Louis Armstrong
Hear the sounds of Harlem honored during the American Museum of Natural History’s Harlem Serenade—A Moment in Time. Festivities include a performance by the All-Star Orchestra, two screenings and a discussion with jazz historian Loren Schoenberg.
Central Park West at 79th St (212-769-5315). Sat 21 1–5pm, free with museum admission.

WAX ATTACK! Black History Month exhibit: Madame Tussauds, 234 W 42nd St between Seventh and Eighth Aves (800-246-8872, madametussauds.com/newyork). Mon–Thu, Sun 10am–8pm; Fri, Sat 10am–10pm; through Feb 28; $22.40–$35.

WIN TICKETS TO MADAME TUSSAUDS!
Write a haiku about a famous black American and e-mail it to ownthiscity@timeoutny.com. The best entry wins two tix to the wax museum.