Conversations
Monthly roundtable discussions at the Schomburg Center
2026 SPRING
Feb 4
Policing Blackness: Resisting Repression, Police Violence, and Surveillance
LaShawn Harris, Brittany Friedman, Aaron G. Fountain Jr., Joshua Clark Davis
Mar 4
Black Women and Resistance: Biography of a Life in Struggle
Yoruba Richen, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Kenja McCray, Louis Massiah
Apr 1
Freedom North: Civil Rights and Racial Justice in the Northeast and Midwest
Ashley Howard, Michelle Adams, Hettie Williams, Brian Kwoba
May 6
Unequal Housing and Transportation: The Fight to Live and Move Freely
Rosemary Ndubuizu, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Deborah N. Archer, Mia Bay
2025 FALL
Sep 3
Malcolm X at 100
Erik McDuffie, Anna Malaika Tubbs, Patrick Parr, Najha Zigbi-Johnson
Oct 1
Black Arts, Black Spaces, and Black Performance
Julius B. Fleming Jr., Jo-Ann Morgan, Courtney Thorsson
Nov 5
The Fight for Black Education and Black History
Brian Jones, Jesse Hagopian, Crystal Sanders, Barry Goldenberg
Dec 3
Reflections on SNCC History: 30 years of Charles Payne’s I've got the Light of Freedom
Charles Payne, Emilye Crosby, Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Charlie Cobb, Tess Raser
2025 SPRING
Feb 5
First Person: Writing Activist Lives from the Inside
Millicent E. Brown, Mike Africa Jr., David J. Dennis Sr., David J. Dennis Jr.
Mar 5
State Violence: Prisons, Police, Politics
Mary Phillips, Donna Murch, Françoise N. Hamlin, Orisanmi Burton
Apr 2
Kings for our Time: Revisiting Martin and Coretta Scott King
Jeanne Theoharis, Barbara Smith, Beverly Guy-Sheftall
Apr 30
A Century of Preserving Black Freedom: Libraries and Archives in the Tradition of Arturo Schomburg
Laura Helton, Vanessa K. Valdés, Ethelene Whitmire
2024 FALL
Sep 4
The Campus as Crucible of Struggle
Stefan Bradley, Danica Savonick, Barbara D. Savage, Brian Jones
Oct 2
Jim Crow North/Black Freedom Struggle Outside the South
Laura Warren Hill, Say Burgin, Ujju Aggarwal, Shannon King
Nov 6
Black History, Anticolonialism and Global Revolutions
Paula Marie Seniors, Quito Swan, Natanya Duncan, Monique Bedasse
Dec 4
Black Freedom Movement Women Biographies
Noliwe Rooks, Marcia Walker-McWilliams, Sonya Y. Ramsey, Ashley Robertson Preston
2024 SPRING
Jan 31
Before Brown
Matt Delmont, Margaret Burnham, Cookie Woolner, Dylan Penningroth
Mar 6
Black Women, Freedom Making, and the Long 1960s
Anastasia Curwood, Suzanne Cope, Christina Greene
Apr 3
Food, Life, and Leisure
Blair LM Kelley, Theresa Runstedtler, Bobby J. Smith II, Ava Purkiss
May 1
Educational Injustice and the Struggle for Liberatory Education
Leslie Alexander, Zebulon Vance Miletsky, Keith Mayes, Conor Tomas Reed
2023 FALL
Oct 4
Screening and discussion of The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Yoruba Richen, Jeanne Theoharis, Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine
Nov 1
The Politics of Political Repression
Charisse Burden-Stelly, Lerone Martin, Adam Elliott-Cooper
Dec 6
Financing Freedom: Black Women and Economic Self-Determination
Tanisha Ford, Shennette Garrett Scott, Crystal Moten
Jan 3
New Perspectives on the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Brandon Terry, Traci Parker
2023 SPRING
Mar 1
Ten Years of Conversations in Black Freedom Studies
Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, Jeanne Theoharis, Komozi Woodard, Brian Jones
Apr 5
Writing Black Activist Lives
Shana Redmond, Dan Berger, Shanna Greene Benjamin, Patricia Romney
May 3
The politics of religion and the role of Black faith
Su'ad Abdul Khabeer, Melissa Ford, Todne Thomas
2022 FALL
Aug 31
Surviving Racial Terror: Lessons from Black Women's Lives
Keisha N. Blain, Treva Lindsey, Erica R. Edwards
Oct 5
From CPS to Dobbs to the Carceral System–What History Shows Us for Challenging Systems of Oppression Today
Anne Gray Fischer, Dorothy Roberts, Loretta Ross
Nov 2
Towards Justice and Holistic Health
Zakiya Luna, Steven William Thrasher, Dana-Ain Davis
Nov 30
Education for Liberation
Brian Jones, Michael Hines, Kabria Baumgartner, Christopher Bonastia
2022 SPRING
Feb 2
Black New York
Tammy L. Brown, Christopher Hayes, Ariella R. Rotramel, Paula Marie Seniors
Mar 2
Black Power Revisited
Robin Hayes, D'Weston Haywood, Edward Onaci, Monica White
Apr 6
Slavery, Capitalism, and Empire
Justene Edwards, Adom Getachew, Peter James Hudson, Daniel Immerwahr
May 4
Racism and Resistance in the Post Civil Rights Era
Carol Anderson, Elizabeth Hinton, Emily Hobson, Daniel Lucks
Jun 1
Films of Black Struggle
Cynthia Gordy Giwa, Tayo Giwa, Emma Francis Snyder
2021 FALL
Sep 1
Black Health: Medical Racism, Resistance, and Wellness
George Aumoithe, Deirdre Cooper Owens, Stephanie Y. Evans, Martin Summers
Oct 6
Understanding Policing and Surveillance in America
Daniel S. Chard, Victoria Law, Marisol LeBrón, Stuart Schrader
Nov 3
Education as a Practice of Freedom
Davarian Baldwin, Jarvis Givens, Jesse Hagopian, Elizabeth Todd-Breland
Dec 1
Radical Black, LGBTQ+ Feminist Lives
Moya Bailey, Laura Lovett, Barbara Smith, Emily Thuma
2021 SPRING
Feb 3
Civil Rights Legacies: Martin, Malcolm, Gwen, and Julian
Ashley Farmer, Pam Horowitz, Peniel Joseph
Mar 3
Black Women in History and Struggle
Daina Ramey Berry, Kali Nicole Gross, Jeanne Theoharis
Mar 31
Black and Red: Black Liberation and Socialism
Charisse Burden-Stelly, Robin D. G. Kelley, Barbara Smith
May 5
Sounds of Freedom: The Music of Black Liberation
Hanif Abdurraqib, Shana Redmond, Rickey Vincent
2020 FALL
Sep 2
How Did We Get Here?: The Long Struggle for Educational Justice in New York
Ujju Aggarwal, Ernest Morrell, Terrenda White
Sep 30
Fighting for the Franchise: A Century of Struggle for Voting Rights
Carol Anderson, Ari Berman, Martha Jones, Reverend Liz Theoharis
Nov 4
Histories of Multiracial Solidarity and Struggle
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Johanna Fernandez, Paul Ortiz
Dec 2
Resisting Carceral Cities: Prisons, Police, and Punishment in Historical Perspective
Garrett Felber, Kelly Lytle Hernandez, Carl Suddler
2020 SPRING
Feb 5
Housing Discrimination in the Jim Crow US and the Case for Reparations
Nathan Connolly, Beryl Satter, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Mar 4
The Long Struggle Against Educational Injustice
Rachel Devlin, Devin Fergus, Elizabeth Gillespie McRae
Apr 1
Radical Black Queer and Feminist Lives (Cancelled due to Covid Crisis)
Saidiya Hartman, Imani Perry, Barbara Smith
May 6
The Poor People's Campaign, the Young Lords, and Black, Brown, Yellow, White, and Red Organizing (Cancelled due to Covid Crisis)
Johanna Fernandez, Paul Ortiz, Reverend Liz Theoharis
2019 FALL
Sep 4
Stop Killer Cops: Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration, and the Liberal Establishment
Max Felker-Kantor, LaShawn Harris, Naomi Murakawa
Oct 2
Rap Brown, Police Repression, and the Torture Machine
Simon Balto, Arun Kundnani, Flint Taylor
Nov 6
The Black Revolution on Campus
John Bracey, Jr., Stefan Bradley, Shirletta Kinchen
Dec 4
The Black Athlete in the Freedom Struggle
Louis Moore, Wyomia Tyus, Dave Zirin
2019 SPRING
Feb 6
Rethinking Black Women Freedom Fighters Gloria Richardson, Louise Thompson Patterson, and the Women of the Nation of Islam
Joseph R. Fitzgerald, Keith Gilyard, Ula Taylor
Mar 6
Radical Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective
Barbara Ransby, Barbara Smith, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Apr 3
Black Women's Internationalism
Keisha N. Blain, Ashley Farmer, John Portlock
May 1
The Struggle Against Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration, and Educational Discrimination in the Jim Crow North
Kristopher Burrell, James Forman, Clarence Taylor
2018 FALL
Sep 5
Black Health and Community Activism
Dr. Julius Garvey, Gabriel Mendes, Alondra Nelson
Oct 3
Rethinking H. Rap Brown and Black Power
Arun Kundnani, Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, Akinyele Umoja
Oct 31
The Struggle for Voting Rights and the Poor People's Campaign
Reverend William Barber, Gloria Browne-Marshall, Reverend Liz Theoharis
Dec 5
Black Politics and the Struggle for Justice in Sports
Howard Bryant, Amira Rose Davis, Randy Roberts, Toni Smith-Thompson
2018 SPRING
Jan 31
Black Resistance to Trump Tyranny
Haki Madhubuti, Noliwe Rooks, Michael Simanga
Feb 28
Revisiting the Uprisings of the 1960s
Aliyah Dunn-Salahuddin, Laura Warren Hill, Peter Levy, Rosie Uyola
Apr 4
50 Years After the Assassination of Martin Luther King
Mary Frances Berry, Thomas Jackson, David Stein, Jeanne Theoharis
May 2
Abolitionism and Slave Resistance
Sowande' Mustakeem, Manisha Sinha, Sasha Turner
2017 FALL
Sep 6
Fifty Years After the Newark and Detroit Uprisings
Say Burgin, Mark Krasovic, Junius Williams
Oct 4
The Fannie Lou Hamer Centennial and Black Women's Organizing Traditions
Katherine Charron, Ashley Farmer, Charles Payne, Gloria Richardson
Nov 1
The Black Freedom Struggle and the Strange Career of Jim Crow New York
Tahir Butt, Brian Purnell, Christopher Tinson
Dec 6
The Black Freedom Struggle and the Strange Career of Jim Crow in the Midwest
Keona Ervin, Nishani Frazier, Patrick Jones
2017 SPRING
Feb 1
Black Power at 50
Jamala Rogers, Mark Speltz, Stephen Ward, Komozi Woodard
Mar 1
Intersectional Black Panther History Project
Angela LeBlanc-Ernest, Tracye Matthews, Mary Phillips, Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine
Apr 5
Black Athletes and the Freedom Struggle
Jennifer H. Lansbury, Johnny Smith
May 3
The Long Fight Against New York's Police Brutality
Michael Flamm, Christopher Hayes, Cathy Schneider, Clarence Taylor
2016 FALL
Aug 31
Black Women and the Criminal Justice System
Keisha N. Blain, Sarah Haley, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Oct 5
Northern Organizing and Cultural Renaissance
Deborah Cullen-Morales, Erik Gellman, Anne Knupfer, Yasmin Ramirez
Nov 2
The War on Poverty at 50
Elizabeth Hinton, Alejandra Marchevsky, Crystal Sanders
Nov 30
Honoring the Legacy of Black Women Radicals Gloria Richardson and Mae Mallory
Ashley Farmer, Joseph R. Fitzgerald, Gloria Richardson
2016 SPRING
Feb 3
Black Power and Political Repression
Kenneth Janken, Erik McDuffie, Rhonda Williams
Mar 2
Women in the Black Panther Party
Ericka Huggins, Mary Phillips, Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine
Apr 6
The Church and the Struggle
Kevin McGruder, Genna Rae McNeil, Jennifer Scanlon
May 4
Educational Injustice and Organizing
Matt Delmont, Ansley T. Erickson, Carla Shedd
Jun 1
The Struggle against Racism and Repression
Aram Goudsouzian, Aldon Morris, Caleb Smith
2015 FALL
Sep 2
Fallen Freedom Fighters: An Evening commemorating the lives of Maya Angelou, Chokwe Lumumba, General Baker, Thelma Dale and Amiri Baraka
Dayo Gore, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, Akinyele Umoja, Komozi Woodard
Sep 30
The Young Lords Party, Part I
Johanna Fernandez, Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez, Felipe Luciano, Wilson Valentín-Escobar
Nov 4
Protest, Women and Performance
Ruth Feldstein, Tanisha Ford, Sherie Randolph
Dec 2
Problems with History of Racial Policing in NYC
Mary Frances Berry, LaShawn Harris, Shannon King
2015 SPRING
Feb 4
50th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X: Malcolm X and Black Radical Women
Rosemari Mealy, Gloria Richardson, Komozi Woodard
Mar 4
Race and the Criminal Justice System: Political Prisoners, Resistance, and Mass Incarceration Part I
Dan Berger, Victoria Law, Bryan Stevenson
Apr 1
Race and the Criminal Justice System: Political Prisoners, Resistance, and Mass Incarceration Part II
Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Arun Kundnani, Laura Whitehorn
May 6
Black and Brown Coalitions
Johanna Fernandez, Sonia Lee, Alejandra Marchevsky, Fred Opie
2014 FALL
Sep 3
The Urban Crisis: An Unfinished Agenda
Robert Curvin, Clarence Taylor, Junius Williams
Oct 1
Education for Liberation and Freedom Schooling
Ujju Aggarwal, Nicole Burrowes, Charles Payne, Brian Purnell
Nov 5
The Political Life and Legacy of Shirley Chisholm
Zinga Fraser, Barbara Winslow
Dec 3
Building Cooperative Economics and Movement Community Institutions
Laura Warren Hill, Alondra Nelson, Jessica Gordon Nembhard
2014 SPRING
Feb 5
Slavery, White Supremacy, and Struggle in American Education
Ansley T. Erickson, Jonna Perrillo, Craig Steven Wilder
Mar 5
Sisters in the Struggle: Sustaining Black Women’ Emancipation from Racism, Sexism and Violence
Emilye Crosby, Mary Phillips, Sherie Randolph, Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine
Apr 2
The Jim Crow North and the Global History of Segregated Cities
Karen Miller, Carl Nightingale
Apr 30
The Biography of Global Black Power Politics: Stokely Carmichael and Walter Rodney
Peniel Joseph, Gloria Richardson, Michael West
2013 FALL
Sep 4
The Roots of Harlem Radicalism and Garveyism
Jeffrey Perry, Mary Rolinson, William Seraile
Oct 2
The Blues People 50 Years Later
Amiri Baraka, Ingrid Monson, John Szwed
Nov 6
The War on Poverty and The Struggle for Welfare Rights
Susan Youngblood Ashmore, Premilla Nadasen, Annelise Orleck
Dec 4
Black Power TV
Madeline Anderson, Devorah Heitner
2013 SPRING
Mar 6
The Black Panther Party: Oakland and Chicago
Donna Murch, Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, Jakobi Williams
Apr 3
The Economics of Black Power
David Goldberg, Laura Warren Hill, Julia Rabig
May 1
Freedom North: The Black Freedom Struggle in New York
Brian Purnell, Clarence Taylor
Jun 5
Black Radical Internationalism
Robyn C. Spencer-Antoine, Akinyele Umoja, Michael West
Jul 18
Honoring the Legacies of Rosa Parks and Eslanda Robeson
Mary Frances Berry, Barbara Ransby, Jeanne Theoharis
