Harlem-born and forged, but world made, James Baldwin held a hyper-intelligent grasp of the best and worst of our society, which fueled his writing, and his activism, and made all of us more aware of ourselves.  

On his August 2nd birthday, on what would have been the 100th year of Badwin’s life, and extended to August 3rd, The Luminal Theater is celebrating his legacy with Baldwin-inspired activities including poems, music, table reads, and of course, movies in Columbia, SC.

Friday, August 2nd (Baldwin’s birthday!) from 6:30pm-9pm

6:30 pm

Welcoming

Live Music on vinyl by The Library Record Shop

7pm

Introductions - Curtis Caesar John, The Luminal Theater

Poetry readings on Baldwin by Terrance P. Elmore, Tifara Brown, and more

7:30 pm

Film Screening: I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE 

In a new restoration of this brilliant documentary, James Baldwin retraces his time in the South during the Civil Rights Movement. Imbuing his constant wit and drawing on insight after the passage of two decades, Baldwin and his brother David revisit historical places stretching from Selma and Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta, to the battleground beaches of St. Augustine, Florida and back north to Newark. On this journey down memory lane, he engages in conversations with friends, activists and fellow writers such as Amiri Baraka, Oretha Castle Haley and Chinua Achebe, reflecting on the past events that sparked the fight against racial segregation, the attacks on churches, racist police brutality, the arbitrary injustices which the Black population had to endure - and how much things have really changed since those times.  

Directed by Dick Fontaine & Pat Hartley

UK/USA, 1982, 92 min.

Restored by Harvard Film Archive. Special thanks to Jake Perlin, Andrew Adair, the late Dick Fontaine, and Pat Hartley.

A FILM DESK RELEASE

Short discussion on the film to follow

Saturday August 3rd from 1pm-5pm

1 pm

Music by The Library Record Shop

1:30pm

reflections, poetry readings, essay readings by DeLana R.A. Dameron, Rian N. Jenkins, Chrisso, Tayler Simon, and more 

3:15pm

Film Screening:  BROTHER TO BROTHER

With Anthony Mackie, Roger Robinson, Aunjanue Ellis, Lawrence Gilliard Jr, Daniel Sunjata, Ray Ford, Lance Reddick, and Duane Boutté

Written & Directed by Rodney Evans

In this critically acclaimed drama, the glory days of the Harlem Renaissance are invoked through the memories of Bruce Nugent, who co-founded the revolutionary literary journal Fire!! with Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Wallace Thurman. As an elderly man, Nugent meets a young Black gay artist - Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Endgame) in his first starring role - struggling to find his voice and together they embark on a surreal narrative journey through his inspiring past.

“Excellent…a gifted cast brings to vibrant, sexy life the likes of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin and Eldridge Cleaver, and in the process conjures the neatest hat trick of all — making the loves and woes of the past resonate with those of the present”

Chuck Wilson - Critic, LA Weekly

USA / 2004 / 90 mins

Discussion on the film to follow