Black Athletes in Professional Sports--speaker willie Maye, coach and sportscaster for WILD radio station. Parker Hill Branch Library, 1497 Tremont St., Roxbury. Thursday, Feb. 6,4 p.m. 427-3820.

Famous Black Americans on Postage Stamps--Parker Hill Branch Library, 1497 Tremont St., Roxbury. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 4 p.m. 427-3820.

"Black Artists"--by Jim Reed, local artist. Parker Hill Branch Library, 1497 Tremont St., Roxbury. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 4 p.m. 427-3820.

Senator Al gore--will be reading from his new book Earth in the Balance: Healing the Global Environment. Brattle theatre, 30 Brattle St. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 5:30 p.m. Free tickets are necessary. For more information, call 354-5201. He should be speaking around the bend at the Institute of Politics as a presidential candidate, but he'd rather read books at weird movie theatres. Does that tell you anything about American politics?

Freedom in the Making of Western Culture--Harvard Sociology Professor Orlando Pattersonwill discuse his latest book. Cambridge Forum, 3 Church St. Tuesday, Feb. 12, 8 p.m. Free. For more information, call 876-9644. So he won some National Book Award for this tome. (check award) Social Studies still kicks Sociology's ass any day.

New England: A Hospitality History--with Christina Tree. Concord Museum, 200 Lexington Rd., Concord. Monday, Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m. $6 general ad-