top of page
Schomburg Centennial Festival

SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
11 AM - 7 PM

515 Malcolm X Boulevard | 135th Street between Malcolm X Blvd and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd

Untitled design-10.png
WILLIS, Raquel - Texas Isaiah Photo Credit.jpg

FESTIVAL OPENING

11 AM  Langston Hughes Auditorium 

OPENING PERFORMANCE

Live Parade with Brooklyn United Marching Band

SPECIAL TRIBUTE

Revolutionary Dreams: 

A Tribute to Nikki Giovanni

KEYNOTE

Raquel Willis, The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation

Schedule subject to change.

The Risk it Takes to Bloom.jpg
Imani Perry_black in blues.jpg
the american daughters_ruffin.jpg
red court.jpg
City Summer, Country Summer.jfif
Damon Young_thats how they get you.jfif
The Lions Den.jpg
Not What She Seems.jpg

Langston Hughes Auditorium

 

11AM | Opening Performance

Brooklyn United Marching Band 

Join the parade starting outside at the Zora Neale Hurston stage

 

Revolutionary Dreams: A Tribute to Nikki Giovanni

Featuring Schomburg Junior Scholars Anisah Abdur-Rahman and Skylar Bowery.  More to join. 

11:45 AM | KEYNOTE CONVERSATION

Featuring Raquel Willis The Risk It Takes to Bloom 

Moderated by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Ph.D.

1:00 PM | The South Has Something to Say 

Kiese Laymon, City Summer, Country Summer
Imani Perry, Black in Blues
Maurice Carlos Ruffin, The American Daughters
Moderator: DéLana R. A. Dameron, Redwood Court

2:00 PM | That's How They Get You---The Game Show

Celebrating the new anthology collection That’s How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor, Damon Young and fellow contributors Mahogany L. Browne, Wyatt Cenac, Hillary Crosley Coker, Alexander Hardy, Clover Hope, Shamira Ibrahim, and Ladan Osman compete in an absurd Black trivia game show featuring pop culture, history, literature, and more. 

3:00 PM | The Art of Cultural Criticism

Roxane Gay
Nan Collymore, Contemporary And

Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker
Moderator: Daniella Brito

4:00 PM |  Storytelling and Suspense in Contemporary Fiction

Iris Mwanza, The Lions’ Den
Yasmin Angoe, No What She Seems

Moderator: Brittany Luse, host, It's Been a Minute

nan collymore.jpg
Daniella Brito_by Stephanie Ayala_edited
Roxane-Gay.png
Vinson Cunningham.jpg
Gather Me_glory Edim.jpg
The Free Black Women's Library.png
Val Brandes Headshot.jpg
Leslie-Ann.png
Born Into Blackness.jpg
Zeal.jpg
LOCA final cover.jpg
we will resist_tricia hersey.webp

James Baldwin Stage Outdoors

12:00 PM |  Literary Disruptors – Building a Literary Market

Glory Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl and author of Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me

OlaRonke Akinmowo, founder of the Free Black Women's Library

Valerie Brandes, British publisher, founder and CEO of Jacaranda Books

Moderator: Leslie-Ann Murray, Brown Girl Book Lover

1:00 PM |  In conversation: Howard W. French, Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War and the upcoming title, The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide

Moderator: Brian Jones, PhD, Director, NYPL Center for Educators & Schools

2:00 PM |  Roots and Routes: Perspectives on Culture and Identity
Morgan Jerkins, Zeal, A Novel
Alejandro Heredia, Loca, A Novel

Moderator: Leslie-Ann Murray, Brown Girl Book Lover

3:00 PM |  In conversation: Tricia Hersey, We Will Rest!: The Art of Escape

Moderator: Glory Edim, Well-Read Black Girl

Hero Flyer no mics no notes  (1).png
sky full of elephants_cebo campbell.jpg
archangels of funk.jpg
nubia the awakening.jpg
Nine Bar Blues.jpeg
Harmattan Season_cover.jpg
S Kin.jpeg

OCTAVIA E. BUTLER STAGE Outdoors

12 PM |  Black Utopias: Imagining Alternative Futures Through Literature

Cebo Campbell, Sky Full of Elephants

Andrea Hairston, Archangels of Funk

Clarence A. Haynes, The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery (Expected June 17, 2025)

Moderators: Erika Hardison, Fabulize Magazine Presents: MSAB! Mixtape Vol.1 and  

Isis Asare, Sistah Scifi

1 PM | Inside MEGASCOPE

Anthony Pugh, Devour

Anita Okoye, Marvel Comics

Chuck CollinsBounce!, Altar to an Erupting Sun

Moderator: TJ Sterling, RAE Comics

2 PM | Beyond the Stars

Sheree Renée Thomas, Nine Bar Blues, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
Ibi Zoboi, (S)Kin
Tochi Onyebuchi, Harmattan Season: A Novel

Moderator: Dedren Snead

2:45 PM | A VERY BLACK COSPLAY SHOWCASE

Join us for A Very Black Cosplay Showcase. Participation is open to attendees of all ages and skill levels.

Wanna join the show? Sign up below (slots are limited).

hero 1 nm.avif
D-Nice Close Up.jpg
SLICK_RICK_SHOT_04-0779 copy1.jpg
DSCF8624.jpg

BLOCK PARTY

4:30 PM |  LIVE MUSIC 

D-Nice

With his journey taking him from the streets of Harlem all the way to The White House, Derrick “D-Nice” Jones is not only a pillar of hip-hop but is continuing to steer pop culture. The legendary artist, DJ, and photographer has moved millions on wax, on stage, and online with his revolutionary virtual “Club Quarantine”. Glad to have him back in Harlem to celebrate our centennial!

The Soapbox Presents: Stoop Sessions

The Soapbox Presents: Stoop Sessions brings live music and electrifying performances to the festival stage, featuring a fantastic band and spotlighting the new icons of Harlem.

Slick Rick 

THE RULER RETURNS! Hip-hop legend Slick Rick returns to the stage with a live performance with Soapbox Presents, celebrating the release of Victory—his first album in 26 years—dropping June 13, 2025.

melania luisa.png
all boys aren_t blue.jpg
Samiya Bashir_I hope this helps.jpg
A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe_Mahogony Brown.jfif

Zora Neale Hurston Stage Outdoors

Join us at the poetry, live readings, and author chats.

12:45 PM |  POETRY FOR OUR TIME Melania Luisa Marte, Plantains and Our Becoming 
 
1:30 PM |  George M. Johnson, All Boys Aren’t Blue


2:15 PM | POETRY FOR OUR TIME Samiya Bashir, I Hope This Helps

3:00 PM | Mahogany L. Browne, A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe (YA)

9c2b22_a64a400481704651a031aff834eca34e~mv2.jpg.webp
Toni at Random.jpg
leaping-tim-fielder.jpg
Akinseye Brown.jpg

AARON DOUGLAS READING ROOM

11:45 AM - 1:45 PM |  

PERSONAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOP

Presented by The Moth

As a participant in a Moth workshop, you can shape a life experience of your choosing into a well-crafted story! You will be guided by experienced Moth instructors who will help you recognize the elements of a compelling story, explore a true personal story, and connect more deeply with others in the room.

Instructor: Devan Sandiford

2:00 PM | Following Toni's Lead: Black Editors Shaping Literature Today

Dana A. Williams, Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship

Chris Jackson, EVP, Publisher, & Editor-in-Chief One World

Jennifer Baker, Editorial Director of Storehouse Voices

Moderator: Yahdon Israel, Sr. Editor, Simon & Schuster

3:00 PM | How to Draw Black Comic Books

Tim Fielder, Illustrator, Concept Designer, Cartoonist, and Animator

Akinseye Brown, Artist, Illustrator, and Writer

4:00 PM | Comics To Cartoons: Adapting Sequential Art To The Screen

David Crownson, Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer, Killer Bee
Roye Okupe, Iyanu 
Moderator: Karama Horne, Lion Forge Entertainment, theblerdgurl

9780593581346.jfif
in an open contempt_weathersby.jpg
these letters end in tears cream.jpg
9780593687543.jpg
and then he sang a lullaby.jpg
tina andrews.jpg
Artist as Writers.jpg
9780593186473.jpg

MANUSCRIPTS, ARCHIVES AND RARE BOOKS Reading Room

 

1:00 PM | THIS COULD BE LOVE

Chukwuebuka IbehBlessings

Ani Kayode SomtochukwuAnd Then He Sang a Lullaby

Moderator: B.A. Parker, co-host of NPR's Code Switch

2:00 PM | Who We Are, How We Tell It: Stories of Community and Public Spaces

Katie Mitchell, Prose to the People

Irvin Weathersby, Jr., In Open Contempt

Moderator: Joy Bivins, Director, Schomburg Center

3:00 PM | A Literary Life and Career

Tina Andrews, Queen Charlotte Sophia: A Royal Affair

Seph Rodney, Artist as Writers: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life

Tre JohnsonBlack Genius

Karon F. TabornWalking Harlem: The Ultimate Guide to the Cultural Capital of Black America

Moderator: Steven G. Fullwood, Co-Editor of Artist As Writers: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life

4:00 PM | FUTURE HISTORIES: NEW WAYS OF TELLING DIFFICULT HISTORIES OF VIOLENCE

Chigozie Obioma, The Road to the Country

Ivana Akotowaa OforiThe Year of Return

Moderator: Dr. Benjamin Talton, Director, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center

Balloons
Woke Baby.jpg
Jump up
Daddy-Daughter Day.jpg
What Brothers Do All Day.jpg
Hold Them Close.jpg
Books N Bros.jpg
Sheribaby.jpg

KIDS CLUBHOUSE Outdoors

11:00 AM |  Woke Baby

Presented by Mahongany L. Browne

A family-friendly celebration of justice-oriented children’s books, featuring storytelling, baby yoga, music, an art table, back-to-back book readings and signings. And this year, enjoy a special tribute to Nina Simone. 

 

Guest readers and authors: ​Mahogany L. Browne (Woke Baby), Miamichelle N. Abad (The Mother’s Day Parade, The Mysterious Patch of Fur), Denise Rosario Adusei (Cesaria Feels the Beat), Kortney Nash (Tell Me About Juneteenth), Omar Holmon, Bemi, Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Ayana Walker, Jive Poetic, Rio Cortez (The River Is My Ocean), Kevin Noble Maillard (Fry Bread), and Tongo Eisen-Martin

1:30 PM |  Jump Up Jamboree

Presented by Rev.  Malika Lee Whitney, Pickney Productions

Join us for an Afro-Caribbean cultural program celebrating the time honored traditions of storytelling and folkways, which preserve legacy for generation. With lively musical accompaniment, families are transported to an island experience right in the heart of Harlem.

2:45 PM | Sharon Gordon, SHERIBABY: A Little Girl’s Big Voice in Post-Independence Jamaica

3:15 PM | Lift Every Page Storytime

Dorothy Price, Daddy-Daughter Day

Ajuan Mance, What Do Brothas Do All Day?

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Hold Them Close: A Love Letter to Black Children

4:15 PM | Books N Bros: A Young Brothers' Advice On Good Reads

Sidney Keys III, Books & Bros: 44 Inspiring Books for Black Boys

4:45 PM | Double Dutch Dreamz Get Your Jump On!

A fun filled experience for all ages. Join the rhythm of happy feet jumping rope in

community along with poetic rhymes and tricks too. Yes, it’s something you can do.

KIDS
bottom of page