Lectures by rapper Chuck D and author Nikki Giovanni are among activities at Western Kentucky University in celebration of Black History Month. Black History Month is about more than African Americans celebrating their history, said Monica Burke, associate director of Westerns Office of Diversity Programs. Its about celebrating a culture that is an essential component of America. Born in Knoxville, Tenn., Giovanni works as a professor of writing and literature at Virginia Tech and has gained notoriety as a poet and an outspoken lecturer. Her last two collections of poems, Love Poems and Blues: Through All the Changes won the NAACPs Image Awards in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Giovanni will speak at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Van Meter Auditorium. As frontman and chief lyricist for Public Enemy, Chuck D was one of the most influential musicians in the 1980s burgeoning rap scene. Since Public Enemy split up in the early 1990s, Chuck D has had success as a solo performer and has also championed freedom of speech and freedom of sharing in the fight over Internet music distribution. The rapper will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Downing University Center Theatre. Books and music will also be the focus of two programs at the Bowling Green Public Library this month, with author Marie Bradby and gospel vocalist John Edmonds appearing to help the library celebrate black heritage. Bradby, who will speak at 4 p.m. Feb. 17 at the librarys main branch, worked for many years as a journalist before becoming a full-time author of books for children while her son was a small child. Her book Once Upon a Farm was chosen as a Best Book of 2002 by the Los Angeles Times and was a Kentucky Librarians Choice Award Nominee, and a Spectrum Childrens Book Club Recommended Book. Bowling Green resident Edmonds gospel vocals have been heard worldwide through performances for audiences such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Danish royal family. He will entertain audiences at the library on Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m.All four events are free and open to the public. For a complete calendar of events, visit www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/StuAffairs/ and click on the Black History Month link, or call 745-5066.