To cultivate an appreciative, multigenerational audience for Black literary arts and culture, the Center for Black Literature partners with a wide range of institutions. A sampling of these collaborative events is described in this section.
Celebrating the Legacy of Tom Feelings was presented by the National Conference of Artists, the Center for Black Literature, and MoCADA (Museum of Contemporary African Diasporian Arts) in 2004. Tom Feelings, a noted artist and award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, focused his works on the Black experience in America.
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The John Oliver Killens Chair for Literary Activism was a special intergenerational gathering on literary activism hosted by the Center for Black Literature to spearhead instituting this Chair, named in honor of John Oliver Killens, the author, activist, social critic, educator, and former writer-in-residence at Medgar Evers College who spent four decades writing and working to support Black writers and their work. He was the visionary founder of the National Black Writers Conference at Medgar Evers College. At the inaugural conference in 1986, Percy Sutton, civil rights attorney and former Manhattan Borough President, conceived of the John Oliver Killens Chair. Initially the Chair supported an elders writers workshop, which continues today and is currently called the Dr. Edith Rock Writing Workshop for Elders. The ultimate objective of the Chair is to provide short-term residencies for literary writers and activists who embody the vision and spirit of Killens.
In 2005, to further this goal, the late poet, writer, teacher, and political activist Amiri Baraka; poet, activist, and scholar Sonia Sanchez; and hip hop artist and activist Talib Kweli participated in a conversation on literary activism. Sonia Sanchez also read poetry and held workshops with high school students and college students over a series of three days.
The Price of Freedom: An Evening Honoring Walter Mosley and The Links, Incorporated at the New-York Historical Society, in conjunction with their 2006 exhibition entitled, “New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War,” featured a dramatic reading by singer and actress Melba Moore, an awards ceremony, and a tour of the exhibit.
Several notable fundraising events for the Center have included a 2010 performance at Littlefield Club in Brooklyn with Talib Kweli, Gary Bartz, and Gil Scott-Heron and “Harmonies and Voices of Transformation” in 2011, featuring Ruby Dee, Mos Def, Guy Davis, and Gary Bartz at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan.
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Another memorable fundraising event for the Center for Black Literature was held in 2015 at the opening reception of the New-York Historical Society’s exhibition Freedom Journey 1965: Photographs of the Selma to Montgomery March by Stephen Somerstein. Singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte was the featured speaker at the well-attended event.
Dr. Brenda Greene with guests, 2015
Guests looking at photo exhibit, 2015
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In 2013, the Center for Black Literature, in partnership with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Martinique Promotion Bureau, presented a Celebration of the Writer and Poet Aime Césaire. An excerpt from the film Aime Césaire: A Voice for History was shown, followed by a talkback with John W. Franklin, from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and Vivaldi Jean-Marie, assistant professor of philosophy at Medgar Evers College.
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Celebrate Sonia!, an 80th birthday party thrown by the Center for Black Literature, African Voices, AKILA WORKSONGS, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Arts + Crafts, Inc, for beloved poet and activist Sonia Sanchez was held in 2014 at Bedford Hall in Brooklyn. asha bandele was the host, and many honored guests such as jessica Care moore, Ursula Rucker, and Haki Madhubuti were in attendance..
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Provocateurs: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Photographers & Writers was a photography exhibition held in conjunction with the 13th National Black Writers Conference in 2016. It was a testimonial to how images can be the spark for a novel or inspire words for a poem. In a similar manner, words can influence the mood for a photograph or a drawing. Five Brooklyn-based photographers were featured: Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Ruddy Roye, and Marcia E. Wilson.
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To honor the centennial of the birth of novelist, educator, and activist John Oliver Killens in 2016, the Center for Black Literature, the Harlem Writers Guild, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture celebrated Killens’s legacy with a special program, John Oliver Killens @100! Invited guests who reflected on the significance of his life and works included Malaika Adero, Arthur Flowers, Woodie King Jr., Bernice McFadden, and Diane Richards.
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