BELFAST - In honor of Black History Month, the monthly forum of the Peace and Justice Group of Waldo County will celebrate two incomparable artists, poet Audre Lorde and musician Nina Simone.

Join them Wednesday, Feb. 15 in the Abbott Room of Belfast Free Library at 6 p.m. for a reading by local poet Barbaria Maria of poems by Audre Lorde, who, in her own words was a black, lesbian, mother, warrior poet. Lorde was also an activist, a teacher, a 14-year cancer survivor and the author of 18 books of poetry and prose.

Maria is also a teacher who has taught and performed in schools and communities throughout New England. She is the author of two books of poetry, Crossing Time and Palace Boulevard as well as several choreopoems written for the stage and more recently, several collaborative mixed media presentations including her poems Convergence and Since We Can't Go Back and Take Nothing, dedicated to the struggles of indigenous peoples for protection of their land and waters.

The reading will be followed by the one-hour film, Nina Simone: LIVE in '65 & '68, two archived live performances, one in Holland in 1965, and one in England in 1968. Simone was one of the great iconoclasts of American music. Simone's daughter writes: "Nina Simone. Those two words bring to mind other words: musical genius, perfect pitch, classical training, Civil Rights activist, revolutionary, Titan and Queen, just to name a few." Another famous iconoclast, Quincy Jones, writes that the film is like "unearthing a musical time capsule...a treasure trove of the music that changed the world".

Come celebrate two women artists who are an amazing gift to our culture.

FMI: call 338-5089