Open to Discussion Reflections on James Baldwin W/ Jewelle Gomez, Ronne Hartfield, Avery R. Young
Guild Complex
An artist without parallel ? expatriate, scholar, activist, educator, poet, ancestor. James Baldwin remains one of the chief influences in contemporary artistry. His works are legendary having helped articulate the painful measure of his own mortality, while keeping a finger on the pulse of the social agenda for Black America during the tumultuous civil rights movement: The Fire Next Time, Another Country, Black Girl In Paris, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Giovanni?s Room, Going to Meet The Man. Mr. Baldwin was featured at Guild Books (precursor to the Guild Complex) in 1987. ?Open To Discussion? Continues tonight with a look at the personal and professional career of James Baldwin with our panelists Jewelle Gomez, Ronne Hartfield, and Avery R. Young. Panelists will discuss Baldwin?s life and read from original work influenced by Baldwin.
An artist without parallel ? expatriate, scholar, activist, educator, poet, ancestor. James Baldwin remains one of the chief influences in contemporary artistry. His works are legendary having helped articulate the painful measure of his own mortality, while keeping a finger on the pulse of the social agenda for Black America during the tumultuous civil rights movement: The Fire Next Time, Another Country, Black Girl In Paris, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Giovanni?s Room, Going to Meet The Man. Mr. Baldwin was featured at Guild Books (precursor to the Guild Complex) in 1987. ?Open To Discussion? Continues tonight with a look at the personal and professional career of James Baldwin with our panelists Jewelle Gomez, Ronne Hartfield, and Avery R. Young. Panelists will discuss Baldwin?s life and read from original work influenced by Baldwin.
Jewelle Gomez is the author of the acclaimed play on James Baldwin, ?Waiting for Giovanni.? Her novel, The Gilda Stories, is one of the only three books to win two Lambda Literary Awards for gay literature in one year (fiction and science fiction). Her Collection of essays, Forty-Three Septembers, was also nominated for a Lambda Award. She has three collections of poetry, The Lipstick Papers, Flamingoes and Bears and Oral Tradition. Her newest book is a collection of short fiction, Don?t Explain (FireBrand Books). Her poetry, fiction and cultural criticism have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, Gay Community News, The Village Voice, The Nation, The Advocate, Essence, and Ms. She was on the original staff of Say Brother, one of the first weekly black television shows in the U.S. (WGBH-TV) and on the founding board of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). She lives in California.,br/> Ronne Hartfield, a poet and educator, knew and was influenced by Baldwin and witnessed his funeral at St. James Church in New York City. She organized and directed the department of Museum Education at the Art Institute of Chicago, and served as Executive Director of Urban Gateways. A poet and writer, she has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago in History, Theology and Literature. A winner of the Sidney Yates Award of Outstanding Contributions to the Arts, she consults widely and is an internationally recognized expert in arts education and multicultural education. Avery R. Young weaves social commentaries, dramatic personas, and day-in-the-life tales into a performance full of vigor and emotion. He has been a featured poet at performance venues throughout the U.S., most notably, WordStock in Prospect Park (NYC), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), and House of Blues (Chicago). Winner of the Timbuktu Poetry Slam ?99(Philadelphia), Avery is also highly regarded as a youth speaker/motivator.Performers
Jewelle Gomez, Ronne Hartfield, Avery R. Young