LANGSTON HUGHES STAGE
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
11 AM - 7 PM
515 Malcolm X Boulevard | 135th Street between Malcolm X Blvd and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd
Langston Hughes Auditorium
1:00 PM | The History and Future of Afro-Indigenous Solidarity
Kyle Mays, When We Are Kin: The History and Future of Afro-Indigenous Solidarity
Moderator: Cori Murray
2:00 PM | We Are the Mothers and the Daughters
Sasha Bonet, The Waterbearers
Moderator: Margo Jefferson
3:00 PM
Karinne Jean-Pierre, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines; Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America
Moderator: Danielle Belton
4:00 PM | FILM SCREENING AND TALKBACK
TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing
Talkback: Nikky Finney, sadé powell, Louis Messiah
Moderator: Naomi Bland
James Baldwin Stage Outdoors
1:00 PM
Dimitry Leger, Death of the Soccer God
Moderator: Leslie-Ann Murray
2:00 PM
ReShonda Tate, With Love From Harlem God
3:00 PM
Walter Mosley, Ghalen: A Romance in Black
4:00 PM
Carrie R. Moore, Make Your Way Home: Stories
OCTAVIA E. BUTLER STAGE
1:00 PM
Andrea Hairston, The Redemption Center Is Closed On Sundays
2:00 PM | Rooted: Black Imagination, Regional Voices and the Black Speculative Tradition
Where you are from shapes what you imagine. The South, the Midwest, the West Coast, the Tri-state — each region carries its own memory, mythology, and survival language. Black speculative storytelling has always been rooted in place, drawing from the rich and unique textures of community, migration, and resistance that define each geography. From the Great Migration to the digital archive, from the blues back to the block, these are the stories that could only come from where they came from.
Moderator:
Erika Hardison, Fabulize Magazine
Isis Assare, Sistah SciFi
3:00 PM | VERY BLACK COSPLAY
A fan favorite from our Black Comic Book Festival, the Very Black Cosplay Showcase brings characters to life! Join the fun on the outdoor 135th Street stage or enjoy the show from the crowd.
BLOCK PARTY
5PM LIVE MUSIC
Come for the books, stay for the community old-school block party blending the best of classic hip-hop and R&B on our Octavia E. Butler Stage! This year we will feature live performances and an exciting DJ set.
Zora Neale Hurston Stage Outdoors
12:00 PM
Rachel Eliza Griffith, The Flower Bearers A Memoir
1:00 PM - 3:45 PM | POETRY FOR OUR TIME
Live poetry readings featuring voices that celebrate, question, and explore the experiences that shape our lives right now.
AARON DOUGLAS READING ROOM
1:00 PM
RAQUEL WILLIS, The Risk it Takes to Bloom
RAQUEL WILLIS
2:00 PM
Rob Franklin, Great Black Hope
Moderator: Emil Wilbekin
3:00 PM
Jamilah Lemeux, Black. Single. Mother.
AMERICAN NEGRO THEATER
11:45 AM | WORKSHOP: INTRO TO PERSONAL STORYTELLING
by The Moth
2:00 PM | WORKSHOP: How to Draw Tim Feilder
with Tim Feilder
KIDS CLUBHOUSE Outdoors
11:00 AM | Woke Baby
Presented by Mahongany L. Browne
A family-friendly celebration of justice-oriented children’s books curated by Mahogany L. Browne. The day’s events include storytelling, baby yoga & music! With back-to-back book readings and signings by your favorite children's author, guest poets, games, crafts, and more!
Join guest readers Winsome Bingham, Traci N. Todd, Joel Léon, B. Sharise Moore, Fred T. Joseph, Ayana Walker, Jive Poetic and BABY YOGA BREAKS with BKWellness.
Roots of Reading Storytime
Hosted by Malika Lee Whitney
1:30 PM
Nadia Fisher, At the Cookout; Daddy Dressed Me,
R.J. Owens, Walk the Walk
2:00 PM
Jaylene Clark Owens, A Black Girl and Her Braids,
Featuring The Braid Parade - Come and walk the parade celebrating your braids - all are welcomed!
2:45 PM
Marcia Withers and Kori Withers, Grandma’s Hands By Bill Withers
3:15 PM
Candice Iloh, Emeka, Eat Egusi!
Harold Green III, Hugged by the Night
4:15 PM OPEN CRAFTS
Coloring, crafting, bookmark making, and stickers galore! (Self-Guided - bring your grown-up!)