Explore Hip-Hop and Harlem at the Schomburg Center This Summer

Hip-hop marks its 50th year of transforming the world and becoming a global phenomenon. Discover two moments in the music’s history that included the Schomburg Center. Find out the civil rights activist, who was one of the organizers of 1963's March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, who used his Hollywood connections to get one of hip-hop’s most memorable films made. Watch a conversation featuring hip-hop founder DJ Kool Herc and pioneer Melle Mel. Learn more about the collection on visual artist, music video director, and filmmaker Fab 5 Freddy plus view our slideshow featuring some of the items from his collection. Through films and documentaries in our Hip-Hop Education Center collection, get a comprehensive look at the music, culture, and art of well-known and unsung figures. 

Can’t make it to the Center to view these materials in person? Watch conversations recorded for our online archive with Chuck D, Rakim, and many more. 

Plus, see exhibitions that will delight and spark meaningful conversations. Watch films that have a connection to people in our collections and Harlem. There are also in-person collections of poets Joe Johnson and Patricia Spears Jones who will speak to your soul. Both are now available to researchers.  

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From These Roots | William Greaves

From These Roots (1978) explores the artists, culture, and political activism that took place in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. Our founder Arturo Schomburg is highlighted in the film. William Greaves (1926–2014) is one of the most important and unsung names in Black cinema. Greaves, whose groundbreaking films focused on documentaries, was a  cinematographer, director, producer and writer of nearly 80 films. His credits include: Malcolm X: Nationalist for Humanist? (1966) and Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice (1989). The Harlem connection? Greaves grew up in Harlem.

If Beale Street Could Talk | James Baldwin

The 2018 film is based on James Baldwin’s titular novel. Set in Harlem in the early 1970s, the film tells the story of Clementine “Tish” Rivers and Alonzo “Fony” Hunt. The two try to clear his name after Fony is wrongfully accused of rape. A prolific writer and civil rights activist Baldwin (1924–1987) has penned literary classics such as Go Tell it on the Mountain and The Fire Next Time. The Harlem connection? Baldwin was born in Harlem.

Losing Ground  | Kathleen Collins

Written, directed and co-edited by Kathleen Collins (1941–1988), Losing Ground looks at Sara Rogers, a college professor, and her husband Victor, an artist, who are experiencing a marital crisis. Playwright and novelist Kathleen Collins (1941–1988) was the first African American woman to write, direct, and produce a full-length film. The Harlem connection? Collins taught in the theater arts department at The City College of New York from 1977 until her death in 1988.

New Jack City | Fab 5 Freddy

The 1991 film New Jack City tells the story of two men who become drug lords and the team of police officers who are determined to bring them to justice. Visual artist, TV host, and producer Fab 5 Freddy served as one of the film’s associate producers. The Harlem connection? New Jack City is set in Harlem. 

Malcolm X | Malcolm X

This 1992 film Malcolm X tells the story of human rights activist Malcolm X. Portions of the film take place in Harlem. The Center has the personal papers, correspondence, and photos of human rights activist Malcolm X in its collections. The Harlem connection? Malcolm X lived in Harlem for much of his adult life.