Upcoming Programs at The Schomburg Center

Back by popular demand--First Fridays at the Schomburg. Join The Rakiem Walker Project for some First Fridays Fun(k) in our glorious courtyard, and also take tours of our current exhibitions. FREE! Registration recommended: www.schomburgcenter.eventbrite.com or call (212) 491-2040.

Join ImageNation Cinema Foundation and the Schomburg Center for a special celebration of South African culture. With special remarks by South Africa's Consul General George Monyemangene, South Africa Remixed celebrates June 16 (South African Youth Day) and will feature a live drum and bass set by South African Music Award Winner Nomsa Mazwai. This vibrant program of live music, amazing short films, and discussion gives a glimpse into the new South Africa and its emerging 

School groups are invited to the Schomburg to celebrate Juneteenth—the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States—featuring a live theatrical performance of  Singin’ Wid A Sword In Ma Han:  An Underground Railroad Love Story. Created by actor, singer, historian, writer and citizen of Harlem USA, Vienna Carroll, this musical docudrama tells the story of a young 

American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama explores the First Lady’s family roots and recounts an extraordinary yet quintessentially American story spanning five generations, from slavery to the White House. Long time correspondent for The New York Times, Rachel L. Swarns delivers a well researched portrait of the First Lady's ancestors, and reveals for the first time the identity of Mrs. Obama's white great-great-great-grandfather—a man who remained hidden in her lineage for more than a century.

FREE! Registration recommended: www.schomburgcenter.eventbrite.com or call (212) 491-2040. After all Word Rapport programs, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase the participants’ books and have them signed.  

In Killing the Messenger, award-winning investigative reporter Thomas Peele examines the genesis and development of the Black Muslim movement in America including the Black Muslim organization in Oakland run by Yusuf Bey who built it through a business called Your Black Muslim Bakery. Peele exposes how Bey’s radical and violent group was responsible for the killing of journalist Chauncey Bailey -- a brazen murder that galvanized journalists dedicated to ensuring that justice was served in the slaying of their colleague. Well-known journalist Earl Caldwell from WBAI’s The Caldwell Chronicle, will join Peele in conversation.

In 1968, a visionary priest recruited 20 black men to the College of Holy Cross and changed their lives and the course of history. In Fraternity, author and Businessweek editor Diane Brady follows five of the 20 men in an inspiring testament to the power of education and mentorship. Among those recruited that year were Clarence Thomas, the future Supreme Court justice; Edward P. Jones, who would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature; and Theodore Wells, who would become one of the nation’s most successful defense attorneys. Wells will join Brady for the program, along with Stanley Grayson, former Deputy Mayor of New York and current COO of M.R.

Learn how to create your next hit with computers and keyboards! Use a Midi controller and computer software to mix a track, add effects, and build the melody to suit your lyrics. All materials provided. For ages 12 to 18.

Free! Registration required at www.schomburgcenter.eventbrite.com.

My First Coup D’Etat: And Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa, by the Vice President of Ghana, is a fable-like memoir that offers a shimmering microcosm of post-colonial Africa.  Mahama’s is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his personal stories work on many levels—as fables, as history, as cultural and political analysis, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who, unbeknownst to him or anyone else, would grow up to be vice president of his nation. Mahama will be in conversation with Andrew Solomon, author of the critically acclaimed book The Noonday Demon. Free.