Black on Screen: Legacies of Abolition

IN PERSON

Screening

Queen Mother Moore Speech at Greenhaven Prison, People's Communication Network, 1973, Runtime: 17 mins.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?, John Edginton, 1998, Runtime: 75 mins.

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“Legacies of Abolition" is the third program in Stand Up, Fight Back! the third season of Black on Screen, guest-curated by Maysles Documentary Center Executive Director, Kazembe Balagun. This season chronicles histories of Black-American and Afro-diasporic coalition building and resistance movements on screen, narrated by intersectional voices.

Join us as we amplify grassroots abolitionist organizing in the fight against mass incarceration, co-presented with Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP). RAPP is a “grassroots advocacy campaign created and led by formerly incarcerated people, working to end racist law-and-order policies, end life imprisonment, and to “expand the use of parole, compassionate release, and clemency.”

We will begin the program with a screening of Queen Mother Moore Speech at Greenhaven Prison. Queen Mother Moore was a Black nationalist activist whose work was instrumental in the fight for reparations and self-determination for Black Americans. Two years following the Attica Prison rebellion, Moore spoke at a community day at the federal Greenhaven prison in Connecticut where she discussed her organizing efforts. The event was recorded by People's Communication Network and it broadcasted on cablecast in New York City. This documentation marked the first time a video collective was allowed to record inside prison walls.

The feature film, John Edginton’s 1998 documentary, Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?, renders the questionable conviction of activist and journalist, Mumia Abu-Jamal, for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Screenings will be followed by a conversation with RAPP staff members moderated by Kazembe Balagun.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

ACCESSIBLILITY

Accessibility requests can be made by e-mail accessibility@nypl.org.

ABOUT BLACK ON SCREEN

Black on Screen: A Century of Radical Visual Culture, captures 100 years of local and transnational Black movement work and artistic evolution on film. Sourced from The Schomburg’s collection and others, it takes a kaleidoscopic look at Black life and expression across diasporas, rendering a range of storytelling traditions that incite and inspire Black world-building. The Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division (MIRS, pronounced “meers”) at the Schomburg Center collects and preserves audio and moving image (AMI) materials related to the experiences of people of African descent. The division has amassed nearly 400 collections, approximately 5,000 square feet, in a variety of formats, which captures the gestures and sounds of major historical, artistic and cultural moments and influencers. While the strength is the Black American holdings there is considerable Caribbean and African representation in the collection. Learn more about this division.

LEARN MORE

This year, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture continues celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding! Join us all year long for a wide array of special events, exhibitions, and more as we celebrate this milestone and continue the legacy of Arturo Schomburg.

Schomburg100 | Exhibition | Special-Edition Library Card | Become a Member

#SchomburgLive

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FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED Events are free and open to all, but due to space constraints registration is requested. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. After the event starts all registered seats are released regardless of registration, so we recommend that you arrive early. We generally overbook to ensure a full house.

GUESTS Please note that holding seats in the Langston Hughes Auditorium is strictly prohibited and there is no food or drinks allowed anywhere in the Schomburg Center.

ACCESSIBLILITY Accessibility requests can be made by e-mail accessibility@nypl.org.

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PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at leahdrayton@nypl.org.

Please note that personal and professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.