April 26, 2023; 6:30pm-8:00pm est.
Black is a Church: A Book Event and Conversation
"Black is a Church" is the engaging new book by interdisciplinary scholar of religion and race in the Americas, Josef Sorett.
Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY 10037
Registration:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-is-a-church-a-book-event-and-conversation-tickets-605235213817?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
Join us in conversation with author and professor Josef Sorett as he discusses his recently released work, Black is a Church: Christianity and the Contours of African American Life. Sorett's scholarship explores the vital and complex role that religion has played in shaping Black communities and movements with insights and research that straddles the disciplines of history, literature, religion, art, and music. He will be in conversation with the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Joy L. Bivins.
Sorett employs primarily historical and literary approaches to the study of religion in Black communities and cultures in the United States. His first book, Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics, illuminates how religion has figured in debates about Black art and culture across the 20th century. In addition to editing the recently released volume The Sexual Politics of Black Churches, Sorett is working on a new treatise, "There’s a God on the Mic: Hip Hop’s (Surprising) Religious History."
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. THE EVENT WILL ALSO BE LIVE STREAMED ONLINE.
Readers who wish to purchase copies of Black is a Church, published by Oxford University Press, can do so in-person from Schomburg Shop in Harlem. All proceeds benefit The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
PARTICIPANTS
Josef Sorettserves as Dean of Columbia College, the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor and Vice President for Undergraduate Education at Columbia University. He is the first Black man to lead Columbia College since the school was founded in 1754 as King's College. Prior to his current roles, Dean Sorett chaired the Department of Religion; was the director of the Center on African-American Religion, Sexual Politics & Social Justice; and was director of undergraduate studies in the Departments of Religion and African American and African Diaspora Studies.
Joy L. Bivinsis the second woman to lead the Schomburg Center in the nearly 100 year history of the institution. She follows in the footsteps of the legendary librarian and curator, Jean Blackwell Hutson, (who graduated from Columbia's Barnard College in 1935, the 2nd Black woman to graduate after Zora Neale Hurston, and later earned a Master's degree from Columbia in Library Service). A division of The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center is considered the world’s premier repository for archival materials with over 11 million items related to African, African Diasporan, and African American life, history, and culture. Before joining the Schomburg in 2020 as Associate Director of Collections and Research Services, Bivins was Chief Curator of the forthcoming International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina and served as Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Chicago History Museum. Among her priorities at Schomburg Center is preparation for the Center's dual centennials in 2025 and 2026, which mark the designation of the 135th Street Branch Library as the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints, and the acquisition of the personal collection of Arturo Schomburg respectively.
CO-SPONSORS
This program is presented in partnership with Columbia University's Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Professor Kellie E. Jones, Chair, and the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia, Professors Mabel O. Wilson, Director.
# SchomburgCenter #AAADS #IRAAS
ACCESSIBILITY | ASL interpretation will be provided upon availability of interpreters. Live captioning is available for streaming programs. Additional accessibility requests can be made by email to [email protected].
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 program start time. After the event starts all registered seats are released regardless of registration.
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.
E-TRANSPORTATION | NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces & people safe.
AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING | Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.
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 [email protected].
Please note that professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER
IN-PERSON | By registering for this event, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending an in-person program at The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold The New York Public Library, its Trustees, officers, agent, and employees liable for any illness or injury. If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or suspect you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, please stay home.
