The program series is part of the Newark Public Library’s 2021 Black History Celebration, along with the historical exhibition, Black Power! 19th Century: Newark’s First African American Rebellion.
All events are free. Please visit www. npl.org/2021BHC and subscribe to The Newark Public Library Facebook page for more information. The virtual exhibition will debut on February 1st at www.blackpower19thcentury.com
On Zoom and Live on Facebook
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. COMMEMORATIVE LECTURE
Thursday, January 21st | 6:00-7:00 PM • Click here to view the recording.The Newark Public Library welcomes Drama Desk Award winning playwright and screenwriter Richard Wesley, Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Let’s Do It Again (Warner Bros., 1975), and journalist, showrunner and producer Cheo Hodari Coker —Luke Cage (2016), Southland (2009) and Notorious (2009). They will discuss the challenges, gains and significance of Black cinema since the time of Dr. King. Dr. Lauren Wells, President of the Newark Public Library’s Board of Trustees, will moderate..
Click here to view the flyer.BLACK HISTORY CELEBRATION OPENING EVENT: THE ART AND BEAUTY OF BLACK POWER! SLAVERY AND RESISTANCE IN POPULAR CULTURE
Saturday, February 6, 2021 | 11:00 AM-12:00 PM • Click here to view the recording. “Not just what they want to remember but what they need to remember.” Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and founding director of the National Museum of African American History, and Salamishah Tillet, author of In Search of the Color Purple: The Story of an American Masterpiece, will discuss the importance of sharing 19th and early 20th-century Black history and culture with the public in museums and in popular culture.Click here to view the flyer.
THE MUSIC OF BLACK POWER
Saturday, February 13, 2021 | 2:00-3:00 PM • Click here to view the recording. Part party, part conversation and teach-in and part ritual, The Music of Black Power journeys from Spirituals to Blues to Hip Hop and House. African American music has transmitted both the power and the stories of African American stories of liberation, joy and struggle. The Music of Black Power will feature a visual and sonic journey of African American musicians and culture. Join DJ Shell Spin, dancer Peace, curator and researcher Noelle Lorraine Williams and Reggie Blanding librarian of the James Brown African American Room for a multimedia discussion.BLACK DANCE, HISTORY AND REBELLION
Saturday, February 20, 2021, 2:00-3:00 PM Click here to view the recording. Tune in on Zoom or Facebook Join Savion Glover and Wayne Winborne, Executive Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, in a conversation about Glover’s family’s history in Newark and a lifelong career of innovatively merging Black history and culture with a form of tap dancing that has shaken the world. Newark born Savion Glover stunned audiences with his choreography of the 1995 Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk is a musical revue telling the story, through tap, of black history from slavery to the present. Glover has been teaching tap since he was 14 years old. He created Real Tap Skills, and started HooFeRz Club School for Tap in Newark, New Jersey.Click here to view the flyer.
FLAMING? GENDER ROLES, POP CULTURE AND SACRED MUSIC IN THE BLACK CHURCH
Saturday, February 27, 2021, 2:00-3:00 PM Click here to view the recording. Tune in on Zoom or Facebook Join Alisha Lola Jones, Ph.D., author of “Flaming? The Peculiar Theopolitics of Fire and Desire in the Black Male Gospel Performance”, in a panel discussion about gender roles, popular culture and sacred music of the Black Church. The Indiana University professor will be joined by Rev. Alton Craig Dunn, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Madison, NJ and Rev. Elder Kevin E. Taylor, Senior Pastor of Unity Fellowship Church in Newark. The talk will examine the impact and significance of church leadership, membership and how the LGBTQIA Movement has shaped the Black Church.FREE BLACK COMMUNITIES, THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND SLAVERY: TELLING AND RESEARCHING THE STORIES
Saturday March 6, 2021 | 1:00-2:00PM Click here to view the recording. Who are the folks bringing the lives of New Jersey’s freedom seekers to the light? Join us for a conversation and slide show of community workers and local historians working to illuminate the lives and activism of African Americans in NJ in the 1800s. Panelists include Kristal Langford, The Lost Souls Memorial Project; Linda Shockley, president, The Lawnside Historical Society owners of the Peter Mott House Underground Railroad Museum; Christopher Matthews, Montclair State University and historian, Dr. James Amemasors bringing the lives of New Jersey’s freedom seekers to the light? Join us for a conversation and slide show of community workers and local historians working to illuminate the lives and activism of African Americans in NJ in the 1800s. Panelists include Kristal Langford, The Lost Souls Memorial Project; Linda Shockley, president, The Lawnside Historical Society owners of the Peter Mott House Underground Railroad Museum; Christopher Matthews, Montclair State University and historian, Dr. James Amemasor