African American culture and literature is strong in Evanston!

This spring we are experiencing a mini-Renaissance of African American cultural events here in Evanston...and much of it is at the Evanston Public Library! A few highlights I hope you'll attend...

A Celebration of Belizean Culture

Sunday, April 10, 3-5 pm, Community Meeting Room, Main Library

Belize Culture and Heritage Association (BCHA) in conjunction with the Evanston Public Library brings you an afternoon of fun-filled Belizean activities and treats. Join us for an array of folk songs, dance and childhood games and  come experience some of the savor/sweet treats of Belize. It’s bound to be a blast! So come out, bring the entire family and let us introduce you to Belize and all its beauty.

 

African Presence in Mexico

Sunday, April 17, 3 pm, Community Meeting Room, Main Library

Africa has had a long and extensive influence in Latin America, particularly in Mexico. From Yanga, the leader of the first successful slave revolt, to some of Mexico’s most famous heroes of independence, the African presence cannot be denied. Paulina Nava of the National Museum of Mexican Art  will trace the Moorish influence of Spain, to the African Diaspora in the Americas, and highlight some of Mexico's forgotten history. This lecture corresponds to the National Museum of Mexican Art’s 2006 national touring exhibition, The African Presence, and is part of the Big Read and Latino Americans 500 grant projects.

 

African American Literature Discussion: Negroland

Tuesday,  April 19, 7 pm, Small Meeting Room, Main Library
Born in upper-crust black Chicago, daughter of a pediatrician and a socialite, Margo Jefferson has spent most of her life among the "colored aristocracy" blue-vein society. Since the nineteenth century they have stood apart, these inhabitants of "Negroland", a small region of African America where residents were sheltered by a certain amount of privilege and plenty.
Reckoning with the strictures and demands of Negroland at crucial historical moments--the civil rights movement, the dawn of feminism, the fallacy of postracial America--Jefferson brilliantly charts the twists and turns of a life informed by psychological and moral contradictions.
Copies of Negroland will be held at the 2nd floor desk. Please register or call 847-448-8620 to get a copy.
For more information, including related  interviews, videos and other websites, see the AAL blog.

Check out our new monthly newsletter, African American Interest!

The Black Male Experience in Evanston: a Panel Discussion

Saturday, April 23, 4-6 pm, Community Meeting Room, Main Library

What is it like to be a Black male in Evanston? Join us in this panel discussion as we explore the history of the Black Male in Evanston, their current experience, as well as challenges and opportunities this poses for Evanston in the future. Come hear personal testimonies as well as what the latest research says of race relations among Evanston families, in our institutions, and across our communities. Share in exceptional stories of exceptional men whose experiences shed light and questions on race relations today. Panelists include Bennett Johnson, President, Path Press, Inc., Lionel Jean-Baptiste, Circuit Court Judge of Cook County, Dino Robinson, Founder of Shorefront and the Shorefront Legacy Center, Dereck Woods, 28-year volunteer coach of F.A.A.M. (Fellowship of Afro-American Men), and co-founder, Black Men Against Violence, and Nathan Norman, Youth/Young Adult Outreach Worker, City of Evanston Illinois Government.


Part of the Quality of Mercy Project, a three-month public programming initiative which invites our community to discuss the complex issues arising from the themes of Dead Man Walking, the play by Tim Robbins, adapted from the book by Sister Helen Prejean, playing at Piven Theatre Workshop April 16-May15. A collaborative effort of six key community partners: Piven Theatre Workshop, Chicago Innocence Center, Evanston Art Center, Evanston Twp High School, Literature for All of Us, and the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy.

Documentary: Whatever Happened to Idlewild?

Sunday, May 1, 3 - 5 pm, Community Meeting Room, Main Library

Once called “The Black Las Vegas,” Idlewild was a wondrous place where African Americans could vacation and relax during America’s segregated Jim Crow era. Idlewild was an incredibly vibrant community from the 1920s through 1960s, but it is now far from being the luxury haven that it once was. The documentary “Whatever Happened to Idlewild” showcases the former “Black Eden” and proposes answers to what has come of the historical resort town. Following the screening of the film, we invite you to participate in a stimulating discussion led by director Coy Davis.
Cosponsored by Shorefront Legacy Center of Evanston.

#LoveStories: A First Look Reading

Sunday, May 8, 3-4:30 pm, Community Meeting Room, Main Library
Join us for a special sneak peek! Inspired by #BLACKLIVESMATTER  #LoveStories by Gloria Bond-Clunie, Marsha Estell and Tania Richard is a three part play exploring the breadth of love in a world of deadly conflict. This is a world premiere play commissioned by Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre.
Gloria Bond-Clunie is the founder of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre and an internationally recognized playwright. Marsha Estell is an accomplished actor and playwright; FJT produced her hit play Heat and her critically acclaimed one-woman play Big Butt Girls and Other Fantasies/The Remix. Tania Richard’s brilliant one-woman play Truth Be Told was commissioned and produced by FJT; she too is an accomplished actor and playwright. Part of the Evanston Literary Festival.

Part of the Quality of Mercy Project, a three-month public programming initiative which invites our community to discuss the complex issues arising from the themes of Dead Man Walking, the play by Tim Robbins, adapted from the book by Sister Helen Prejean, playing at Piven Theatre Workshop April 16-May15. A collaborative effort of six key community partners: Piven Theatre Workshop, Chicago Innocence Center, Evanston Art Center, Evanston Twp High School, Literature for All of Us, and the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy. 

This program is presented as part of the 2016 Evanston Literary Festival.


 

 

 

Amina Gautier Reads

Monday May 9th, 7:00 pm, Community Meeting Room, Main Library
The fifteen stories in The Loss of All Lost Things explore the unpredictable ways in which characters negotiate, experience, and manage various forms of loss. They lose loved ones; they lose their security and self-worth; they lose children; they lose their ability to hide and shield their emotions; they lose their reputations, their careers, their hometowns, and their life savings. Often depicting the awkward moments when characters are torn between decision and outcome, The Loss of All Lost Things focuses on moments of regret and yearning.

This program is presented as part of the 2016 Evanston Literary Festival.

 

Amina Gautier, PhD., is the author of three  short story collections: At-Risk, Now We Will Be Happy and the The Loss of All Lost Things. At-Risk was awarded the Flannery O’Connor Award, The First Horizon Award, and the Eric Hoffer Legacy Fiction Award. Now We Will Be Happy was awarded the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction, the Florida Authors and Publishers Association President's Book Award and a USA Best Book Award. The Loss of All Lost Things was awarded the Elixir Press Award in Fiction.

  

 

African American Literature Discussion: The Sellout

Tuesday, May 17, 7 pm, Main Library, Small Meeting Room
A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, Paul Beatty's The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game. It challenges the sacred tenets of the United States Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship, and the holy grail of racial equality--the black Chinese restaurant.  Named one of the best books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review and the Wall Street Journal.
Copies of The Sellout will be held at the 2nd floor desk. Please register or call 847-448-8620 to get a copy.
For more information, including related  interviews, videos and other websites, see the AAL blog.  
Check out our new monthly newsletter, African American Interest! 

 

Fathers and Daughters: My Soul to His Spirit

Sunday, June 12, 3 pm - 4:30 pm, Community Meeting Room, Main Library

Author Melda Beaty reads from her compilation of stories and letters written by African American girls and women to their fathers. It gives voice to the sentiments of love, pain, disappointment, fulfillment, betrayal, and confusion for a diverse group of black women as they chronicle a journey of healing and redemptive love towards their fathers. My Soul to His Spirit: Soulful Expressions from Black Daughters to Their Fathers won the 2006 National Fresh Voices Award.

Girls and women in the community are invited to share their own stories an writings about their fathers at this event.

Beaty is an author, playwright, college English professor, and writing consultant.  Her debut novel, Lime (2012), explores notions of beauty and bonds of friendship set against the horrors of domestic violence. Her current play, Front Porch Society, which was read at The National Black Theatre Festival, delves into the complex lives of four elderly black women in rural Mississippi Delta on the eve of the 2008 presidential election.