The Mission
Established in 2002, the Center's mission is to expand, broaden, and enrich the public’s knowledge and appreciation of Black literature.
Select 2022 Literary Program Highlights
DR. OBERY M. HENDRICKS
Dr. Obery M. Hendricks is the author of Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith (Beacon Press 2021). Drs. Greene and Hendricks discuss his motivation for writing the text and his fiction and scholarship on radical interpretations of the Bible. Hendricks’s anger and frustration with the rise of Donald Trump and his un-Christian behavior constitute the content of this book. Hendricks carefully examines Evangelical Christians’ beliefs on abortion, immigration, homosexuality and marriage equality, and capitalism and the NRA, then provides quotes in the Bible that contradict these right-wing views.
Click the image above to watch the video or click HERE.
CHESTER HIGGINS JR.
Chester Higgins Jr. , author of Sacred Nile, with Betsy Kissam (BCH, 2021). Dr. Greene and Higgins discuss how he began the work of documenting through photography, the African spiritual and historical influences related to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in Egypt and Ethiopia. Higgins recollects his personal pilgrimages to sacred sites and provides an overview of the visual representations of ancient African rituals and practices.
Click the image above to watch the video or click HERE.
Watch Select Replays from 2021!
Broadcasted on September 30, 2021
Jennifer Baker (senior editor, Amistad Books at HarperCollins Publishers), far left, moderated a stellar panel of gifted writers for the September edition of our John Oliver Killens Reading Series. The panel featured Ladee Hubbard (The Rib King), second from left; Morowa Yejidé (Creatures of Passage), second from right; and Karla FC Holloway (Gone Missing in Harlem), far right.
Proudly Broadcasted on September 16, 2021
Fittingly, the inaugural event of the 2021-2022 program season was a tribute to literary giant JOHN OLIVER KILLENS. It also highlighted his novel The Minister Primarily (written in the '60s and published posthumously in 2021).
Purchase the book from the African American Literature Book Club: https://bit.ly/theminister. Read the review from The New York Times: https://nyti.ms/2WG0u5R
About the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY
For 20 years, the programs of the Center for Black Literature (CBL) have had a dynamic impact in the literary field. The highly anticipated author readings and book signings, journals, symposia, conferences, panel discussions, and writing workshops—and the Center’s intellectual and accessible approach to programming—form an integrative approach to programming that sets CBL apart from others. CBL’s events are known for the way they ensure that Black literary scholarship and conversations are valued and sustained.
Contact Us
Center for Black Literature
at Medgar Evers College, CUNY (CBL)
1534 Bedford Avenue, 2nd Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11216
Primary Phone: (718) 804-8883
Primary Email: info@centerforblackliterature.org
Support Us with a Donation!
To carry out our mission, we rely heavily on donations from the public. Please MAKE A DONATION today. Every single dollar counts!
We're on Social Media!
Join Us
Join our email newsletter to get regular details on our year-round events.
Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved. | Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY.