Harlem Library Cinema Series @ George Bruce - April 2011
Spring is here! (Finally.) All around us nature is awakening from winter's slumber and pushing forth new life and new growth. Why not reawaken yor mind and spirit each month with the stimulating,...
View ArticleHarlem Library Cinema Series @ George Bruce - June 2011
The freedoms that we take for granted today across the spectrum of American society were not easily achieved. They were hard won—through struggle, self-sacrifice and even death.The Civil Rights...
View ArticleFurther Reading: Activism Through Poetry
Slam poetry is a new and unique development in modern literature. Activism through poetry, however, has been around for as long as the art form itself has. I’ve never had a cup of coffee and talked...
View ArticleThe Autobiography in Arabic of a Senegalese Enslaved in North Carolina
In 1831, Omar ibn Said, a Senegalese trader and Qur'anic teacher enslaved in North Carolina, wrote his autobiography in Arabic. It is the only known surviving slave narrative written in that language...
View Article1988: The Year Hip-Hop Made Noise
I met this girl, when I was 10 years old And what I loved most, she had so much soul Lyrics from "I Used to Love H.E.R." by CommonFormer Actor and California Governor, Ronald Wilson Reagan was the...
View ArticleSocial Movements in America: A Research Guide
For the past four weeks, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Village Voice, Le Monde, El Pais, The Independent, El Diario-La Prensa, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Yomiuri Shimbun, World...
View ArticleGold, Freedom, Faith, and Baroque in Brazil
I had not slept for 34 hours. After a bad flight and two long bus trips, I was hiking, ecstatic, in a muddy mine. I touched the walls from top to bottom. Perhaps “he” had put his hands there too. I was...
View ArticleNikky Finney Wins National Book Award in Poetry
On November 16, Nikky Finney received the 2011 National Book Award in Poetry for her book Head Off & Split. Political, sensual, historical, imaginative, Finney’s poems speak of struggle, beauty,...
View ArticleWhat Does Freedom Mean to You?
Freedom was a very hard and dangerous trek. Do you think you could make it if you had to try?If you didn’t have someone like Harriet Tubman, also known as Moses, to help you, would you still be able to...
View ArticleMusical of the Month: Shuffle Along
A guest post & edition by Brian D. ValenciaWhen Shuffle Along opened at the 63rd Street Music Hall on May 23, 1921, it marked the return of all-black musical shows to Broadway after nearly a...
View ArticleCelebrating the Life of Janet Collins, an African-American Pioneer in Dance
The headlines about her death called her the first African American ballerina of the Metropolitan Opera, but Janet Collins was much more than that. A new biography, Night’s Dancer: The Life of Janet...
View ArticleGilbert King's "Devil in the Grove": Thurgood Marshall and A Cry of Rape
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the 20th century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown versus Board of Education when he became embroiled in an...
View ArticleA Poem A Day
April is National Poetry Month, and I promised myself to read a poem a day. Some poets of the black experience immediately came to mind: Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, Sonia Sanchez,...
View ArticleApril and Einstein on Race and Racism in Paris
This April — Fred Jerome and I, authors of Einstein on Race & Racism (2005) went to Paris for the unveiling of the French edition of our book.The title in French means Einstein - anti-racist -...
View ArticleThe Thing That Makes You Exceptional: Lorraine Hansberry in the Village
Lorraine Hansberry lived at 337 Bleecker Street. Her birthday is May 19.A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. Here are some quotes:A...
View ArticleClicks to the Black World
Digital Schomburg's online exhibitions on various aspects of the black experience have truly become a global phenomenon. They are attracting visitors from all over the world. From Argentina to Zimbabwe...
View ArticleManhattan Woman and 20,000 Slaves
Genealogical Ties That Bind.We met at the Chambers Street IRT subway station — Lynn Jencks, descendant of an early Dutch family, and me, descendant of Lenape, Dutch and Africans. About 400 years ago,...
View ArticleDjango Unchained: Lorraine Hansberry Unbridled
Angelic stranger, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) grants freedom to hapless Texas slave Django (Jamie Foxx). Schultz, a kindly German dentist-turned-bounty hunter, provides Django with employment,...
View ArticleDance on Fire: Spring Programs at the Library for the Performing Arts
The Dance Division is ON FIRE this spring with programs and exhibitions featuring dance from around the world, all at the Library for the Performing Arts! An exhibit on flamenco, 100 Years of Flamenco...
View ArticleMemorial Day: Commemorating and Remembering Our Veterans and Those Who Serve
May 27th is Memorial Day. Did you know that this U.S. federal holiday goes as far back as the American Civil War in the 1860s?Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, occurs ever year on the...
View Article