By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - Forty years after she took part in a Freedom March with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Kentucky's capital, Newport resident Pat Fann is still mesmerized by the slain Civil Rights leader who many paused to honor Monday.

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She worries, however, that many Americans lack basic knowledge of black history. To help remedy that, Fann is offering one of her periodic one-woman shows on Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman in February as part of the Kenton County Public Library system's celebration of Black History Month.

"Black history has been overlooked in history books,'' said Fann, 55. Fann's portrayal of escaped slave Tubman is one of six free programs that the Kenton County Public Library system is offering in February to mark Black History Month. Black History Month activities include:

• 7 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Mary Ann Mongan Library in Covington: Join a book discussion on The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah.

• 2 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Independence branch: Pat Fann gives a 45-minute performance on the life of Harriet Tubman.

• 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Mary Ann Mongan Library in Covington: Storyteller Omope Carter Daboiku portrays Bessie Coleman, one of America's first pilots.

• 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Erlanger branch: "Who Is Margaret Garner?" Learn about the Boone County runaway slave who killed her daughter rather than see her returned to slavery.

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E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com