2025 Black History Celebration - Newark Public Library

The James Brown African American Room at the Newark Public Library is proud to present our 2025 Black History Celebration

And The Beat Goes On: Drums as Rhythm, Resistance, and Resilience

This February, join us as we honor the vital role of drums in Black culture—celebrating their power as instruments of communication, artistic expression, and resistance. This year’s theme, And the Beat Goes On: Drums as Rhythm, Resistance, and Resilience, explores the deep cultural significance of drums within Black and African American communities. This theme celebrates the drum as a symbol of rhythm, a tool of resistance, and a powerful force of resilience, highlighting its enduring impact on music, art, and activism throughout history and across the African diaspora.

Our 2025 Black History Celebration will feature a thought-provoking exhibit exploring the legacy of drums in Black history and culture and three engaging programs. For questions about the events or exhibit  please call the James Brown African American Room at (973) 733-5411 or email jbaar@npl.org

The Exhibit

This year’s Black History Celebration exhibit, curated by Reggie Blanding Jr. and Kehinde Alonge, shares the same title as this year’s theme, celebrating rhythm, resistance, and resilience. The exhibit honors the work of those whose beats inspire and empower. Once feared by enslavers as tools of communication and uprising, drums have carried the spirit of resistance from the motherland to the tenements. From the djembe to the MPC2000XL, the drumbeat continues to be our heartbeat—what Amiri Baraka called “our oom boom ba boom.” Resilient as ever.

The exhibit will open on Saturday, February 1, 2025 and be on view through April 30, 2025.

The programs

2.1.25

2.8.25

3.1.25

Let The Drums Speak: A Conversation with the Legendary Bernard "Pretty" Purdie

Saturday, February 1, 2025

Reception at 1pm, Program at 2pm

Join us for the opening event of our 2025 Black History Celebration as we honor the life and career of Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, one of the most recorded drummers of all time. Known for his groundbreaking contributions to music, Purdie will be joined by Jerome Jennings, an Emmy Award-winning drummer and composer, and Skeme Richards, a globally recognized DJ and cultural curator, for a dynamic and insightful conversation about his legendary career and the lasting influence of his work.

This event will delve into Purdie’s iconic career, exploring his genre-defining rhythms, his impact on the music world, and the enduring cultural significance of drums in Black history. With Jennings and Richards adding their deep musical knowledge and perspectives, this inspiring and intimate conversation will celebrate the power of rhythm and pay tribute to Purdie’s extraordinary legacy.

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Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - The King of the Beat

Bernard Purdie, a New Jersey native and legendary drummer, has had a profound influence on the music world for over six decades. Starting his career in country music, he soon expanded into blues, jazz, R&B, funk, and beyond. Over the course of his expansive career, Purdie has worked with over 2,500 artists and played on more than 4,000 records. His remarkable contributions to hits like “Cold Sweat” by James Brown, “Mississippi Goddam” by Nina Simone, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron, and “Poetry” by Nikki Giovanni have cemented his place as one of the most influential drummers in history.

Purdie’s rhythmic roots find their origin in the sounds of the B&O Railroad trains while growing up in Elkton, Maryland, and those early influences continue to shape his dynamic style. His work with his band Bernard Purdie and Friends in New Jersey, along with his newly formed group The Purdie Boys in North Carolina, continues to bring his legendary beats to audiences worldwide.

With an extensive career that spans Broadway, TV, and iconic live performances, Bernard’s legacy is woven into the fabric of American music history. He has worked on productions like Hair, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and countless others, leaving an indelible mark on the music and entertainment industries. At 82, he remains as active as ever, continuing to tour, perform at festivals, and offer drum clinics to aspiring musicians.

Click here to learn more about Purdie

Jerome Jennings

Drummer, Activist, and Educator

Jerome Jennings is an Emmy Award-winning drummer, composer, bandleader, and passionate educator. His debut album, The Beast, was hailed as one of NPR’s top three jazz releases and received widespread acclaim, including a four-star rating from Downbeat Magazine. His second album, Solidarity, was recognized by NPR as one of the best albums of 2019, speaking truth to power.

Jerome has worked with a roster of legendary musicians such as Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Wynton Marsalis, The Count Basie Orchestra, and Dee Dee Bridgewater, among many others. He has also performed with rising contemporary artists like Sean Jones, Jazzmeia Horn, and Charenee Wade. A Juilliard graduate, Jerome is a renowned educator, having taught at institutions like Juilliard, Montclair State University, and internationally at universities such as the University of Ghana and the Sydney Conservatory of Music.

In addition to his musical career, Jerome is deeply committed to activism and education, creating courses and panels on jazz and social justice, and working with students worldwide to promote Black American music. He continues to tour, teach, and contribute to the cultural landscape as a scholar and artist.

Click here to learn more about Jennings

 

Skeme
Richards

Global DJ, Cultural Ambassador, Foodie and Pop Culture Preserver

Skeme Richards is a globally recognized DJ, cultural ambassador, and pop culture curator known for his unique blend of music, food, and art. As the creator of Nostalgia King, an online platform dedicated to preserving and reviewing analog music releases, Skeme highlights the timeless beauty of vinyl records in genres like funk, soul, jazz, international soundtracks, and independent hip hop. His work presents music from a tastemaker’s perspective, catering to both avid listeners and DJs who embrace the analog sound and stray from the mainstream.

In addition to his musical endeavors, Skeme is deeply passionate about art and film, featuring visual artists and photographers who continue the tradition of creating by hand in the digital age. A contributing writer for several music and culture magazines, he shares thought-provoking articles, interviews, travel insights, and his popular food-based video series The Drop – A Conversation Over Beef.

As an international DJ, Skeme takes his audience on a journey across the world, providing a window into unique cultural experiences, special events, and hidden gems known only to locals.

Click here to learn more about Skeme

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes
A Film Screening & Discussion

Saturday, February 8, 2025

Screening & Discussion at 1:30pm

The second event of our 2025 Black History Celebration showcases the remarkable legacy of Max Roach, the legendary drummer and civil rights activist. Join us for a special screening of Sam Pollard’s powerful documentary Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes. After the film, engage in an insightful discussion with Josslyn Luckett and Jamara Wakefield.

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes is the story of a musician whose far-reaching ambitions were inspired and challenged by the inequities of the society around him. His stunningly diverse seven-decade career marked him as one of the great musical artists of the 20th century and a pioneering cultural activist at times when the nation was steeped in racism. The film follows Roach across a rich and complicated life, years of now-legendary achievement, deep personal struggle, and the price he paid for his outspoken views. His was an epic musical journey — from the revolutionary Jazz of the 1940s to the Civil Rights years, through experiments in hip hop, multi-media works, and beyond.

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Josslyn Luckett

Screenwriter, Playwright, Assistant Professor at NYU

Josslyn Jeanine Luckett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cinema Studies at NYU Tisch School of the Arts; she is also affiliated faculty of NYU’s Asian Film and Media Initiative. She holds a PhD in Africana Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. She also has an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She is also a screenwriter and playwright; she wrote the teleplay for the MTV Original Movie, Love Song, directed by Julie Dash, and in 2021 she joined the writing staff of Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar (OWN) for its seventh and final season. She has also been recently appointed to the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress.

Click here to learn more about Luckett

Jamara Wakefield

Writer, Producer & Filmmaker

Jamara Wakefield, 2024 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship Award winner, is a Black queer writer and creative who writes for publication and stage. Wakefield is the author of The Black Student’s Guide to College Resistance Volume 1: Student Loan Debt. It is a manual that addresses the colonial history of the American Higher Education system and proposes resistance strategies for students regarding debt and institutional power. Her performance work is cross genre, combining music, poetry, theater, music and improvisation to create public performance.

@jamaraproducer

The Boom Bap Archive:
Drum Machines and Hip-Hop

Saturday, March 1, 2025

Reception at 1pm, Program at 2pm

Experience the grand finale of our 2025 Black History Celebration with a captivating discussion moderated by Jamara Wakefield featuring renowned producers K-Def, Internal Quest, JWords, and Geng PTP. Together, they’ll explore the evolution of hip-hop, the enduring legacy of breaks, and the drum machines shaping and expanding its sonic history.

Following the discussion, enjoy an electrifying beat set showcasing current and emerging producers as they push the boundaries of sound and creativity. Don’t miss this dynamic event celebrating the artistry and innovation of hip-hop!

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K-Def

Producer & DJ

@djkdef

K-Def is a New Jersey based producer/DJ who has actively been involved in the music industry since the early 1990s. He has produced for artists Ghostface Killah and Craig Mack, and many others. K-Def earned critical praise early in his career for his work with Marley Marl on the album Here Comes The Lords by Lords of the Underground. Among the songs from that album that benefited from K-Def’s production work is the hits “Funky Child” and “Chief Rocka.”

 

Internal Quest 

Audio Engineer, Music Producer, & Youth Mentor

@internalquest

Internal Quest is an audio engineer, music producer, and youth mentor. He began his career in the Barringer High School marching band, producing for local artists and competing in area beat battles and talent shows. Internal Quest attended the Institute of Audio Research in New York City graduating with high honors. In 2010, he became the lead engineer and general manager of Jersey Sound Lab Recordings based in Newark, NJ. Internal Quest calls his sound, style and delivery of his music as, “Hip-Hop: With a little innovation.”

 

JWords

Producer & Composer

@_jwords

JWords is a producer, composer breaking boundaries in black electronic and hip-hop music successfully fusion the two genres together to create a whole new world for herself. An arsenal of synthesizers and drum machines have become her signature in creating dynamic live performances. Having produced albums like ‘ve·loc·i·ty’ by H31R which is a duo between maassai and JWords. She’s also produced for rapper Nappy Nina and their album is called ‘Double Down’.

Geng PTP

Poet, Producer, DJ, Educator & Audio Engineer

@genggrizzly

GENG PTP is a Manhattan-born, Queens NYC-based sound practitioner (poet, producer, DJ, audio engineer), educator, archivist, visual designer, organizer, and physical trainer. With 3+ decades of participatory roots in NYC’s underground music/DIY communities, he has been making work through a multitude of solo and collaborative processes. Most currently, he performs as KING VISION ULTRA (est. 2017), a multimedia project considering memory and voice as quantum weaponry in relation to honoring/making/taking space, sampling from the archive (recall/remembrance), and spirit channeling. He also makes up half of Centennial Gardens (aka CENTENNY GZZZ), a duo with Dreamcrusher.

GENG’s organizing and coalition work expands to the visionary collective and label, PTP (Protect The Peace fka Purple Tape Pedigree), which he established in 2009. PTP operates in spaces as “counter-industrial purveyors of weaponized media and information.”

Jamara
Wakefield

Writer & Producer

@jamaraproducer

Jamara Wakefield, 2024 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship Award winner, is a Black queer writer and creative who writes for publication and stage. Wakefield is the author of The Black Student’s Guide to College Resistance Volume 1: Student Loan Debt. It is a manual that addresses the colonial history of the American Higher Education system and proposes resistance strategies for students regarding debt and institutional power. Her performance work is cross genre, combining music, poetry, theater, music and improvisation to create public performance.

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