The Schomburg Center Kicks off Summer with an All-Day Centennial Festival

A blend of two popular Schomburg Center traditions, the Centennial Festival invites fans, book lovers, Blerds, authors, artists, cosplayers, and creatives to gather, explore, and get down at an old-school block party.

As part of the 100th anniversary of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Schomburg Centennial Festival on June 14th will ring in a summer of Centennial programming with a celebration of Black literature, art, and imagination. The all-day indoor/outdoor festival will feature book talks and events with Raquel Willis, Wyatt Cenac, Roxane Gay, Kiese Laymon, Imani Perry, Damon Young, Alejandro Heredia, Mahogany Browne, Glory Edim, Katie Mitchell, Tricia Hersey, David Crownson, Vinson Cunningham, and more. This year marks the return of The Very Black Cosplay Showcase, a stage of children’s programming and a book marketplace. The festival will end with a community old-school block party featuring live performances by DJ D-Nice, Slick Rick, and Soapbox Presents. 

The Schomburg Centennial Festival begins at 11 am with a performance from the Brooklyn United Marching Band, a tribute to Nikki Giovanni, and a keynote conversation with Raquel Willis, author of The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation.

“For a century, the Schomburg Center has occupied an important role in the intellectual and creative life of Harlem,” said Novella Ford, Associate Director of Public Programs and Exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  “The festival is a moment to celebrate our legacy while continuing to nurture Black creativity and center work that values Black history and culture. Being in community means tending to our liberation and our joy in the ‘public square’, free for all to experience.”

The Schomburg Centennial Festival blends elements of two of the Center’s most popular events, the Black Comic Book Festival (BCBF) and the Schomburg Literary Festival (Lit Fest), with special features in honor of the library’s 100th birthday. 

Programs run until 7 PM inside the Schomburg Center and outside on 135th Street. Registration is open online. 

The Centennial festival will carry on the Black Comic Book Festival and Lit Fest traditions of a vendor marketplace to connect readers directly with the creators they love. The marketplace will showcase over 40 vendors of independent publishers, authors, and writer collectives, including Simon & Schuster, Kamau Studios, Black Woman Be Whole, and Hiztory Bookz. Comic book enthusiasts can swing by Comic Book Row for comics, anime, and sci-fi reads centering Black voices, including Raecomics, GENERATE COMIX, Gigi Murakami, and more.

The Very Black Cosplay Showcase will return to give superheroes-in-training and warriors from galaxies far, far away the chance to show off their best cosplay. Children’s programming includes the return of the Woke Baby Festival and the new addition of the Jump Up Jamboree. The day will inspire young readers with storytelling, live music, crafts, book signings, and more. The full schedule can be found online. 

Highlights include:

OPENING KEYNOTE CONVERSATION  

LANGSTON HUGHES AUDITORIUM @ 11:45 AM 

Featuring Raquel Willis, author of The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation.

WORKSHOP: INTRO TO PERSONAL STORYTELLING Presented by The Moth

AARON DOUGLAS READING ROOM @ 11:45 AM

LITERARY DISRUPTORS, BUILDING A LITERARY MARKET

JAMES BALDWIN STAGE (Outdoors) @ 12 PM 

• Glory Edim, founder of Well Read Black Girl and author of Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me
• OlaRonke Akinmowo, founder of Free Black Women’s Library
• Valerie Brandes, British publisher, founder and CEO of Jacaranda Books
• Ainehi Edoro, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Brittle Paper
• Moderator: Leslie-Ann Murray, Brown Girl Book Lover

THE SOUTH HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 

LANGSTON HUGHES AUDITORIUM @ 1 PM 

• Kiese Laymon, City Summer, Country Summer
• Imani Perry, Black is Blue
• Maurice Carlos Ruffin, The American Daughter
• Moderator: DéLana R. A. Dameron, Red Court

THAT’S HOW THEY GET YOU: AN UNRULY ANTHOLOGY OF BLACK AMERICAN HUMOR WITH DAMON YOUNG AND GUESTS

LANGSTON HUGHES AUDITORIUM @ 2 PM 

• Mahogany Browne
• Wyatt Cenac
• Hillary Crosley Coker
• Alexander Hardy
• Clover Hope
• Shamira Ibrahim
• Ladan Osman

VERY BLACK COSPLAY SHOWCASE 

OCTAVIA E. BUTLER STAGE (Outdoors)  @ 2:45 PM

HOW TO DRAW BLACK COMIC BOOKS with Tim Fielder and Akinseye Brown

AARON DOUGLAS READING ROOM @ 3 PM 

BLOCK PARTY (Outdoors) @ 4:30 PM

Performers include DJ D-Nice, the legendary artist, DJ, and photographer who has moved millions on wax, on stage, and now online with his revolutionary virtual “Club Quarantine”. Rap icon Slick Rick, who serves as one of the most recognizable and still sampled voices of early hip-hop, will perform live. Soapbox Presents will bring their Stoop Sessions, a series of outdoor musical concerts that originated on the stoops of Harlem’s classic brownstone buildings, to the festival. 

Additionally, the neighboring Countee Cullen Mobile Library will hold giveaways of the children’s picture book, Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez, and arrange sign-ups for the new Schomburg Center limited edition library card depicting the Center’s Cosmogram.

Exactly one hundred years ago on May 8, 1925, the Schomburg Center’s forerunner—the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints at the 135th Street Branch Library—opened its doors at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. In May 2025, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture kicked off its 100th anniversary with a year-long celebration, with the opening of a major exhibition, book giveaways, lively new programming, and a limited edition library card.

Leadership support for the Schomburg Center’s Centennial is provided by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and Andreas C. Dracopoulos. 

Additional support is provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation. 

The 2025 Schomburg Center Centennial Festival is powered by Puma.

About the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Founded in 1925 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2017, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the preservation, research, interpretation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diasporan, and African experiences. As a research division of The New York Public Library, the Schomburg Center features diverse programming and collections totaling over 11 million items that illuminate the richness of global Black history, arts, and culture. Learn more at schomburgcenter.org.

About The New York Public Library

For over 125 years, the New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With over 90 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming, and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars. The New York Public Library receives millions of visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.