Join the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project for our First Thursday Film Discussion of two documentaries focusing on two of the most important and influential Black literary figures of the 20th century.

"I Am Not Your Negro", by director Raoul Peck, was hailed as "a life-altering new documentary" by NY Times critic A.O. Scott in his REVIEW of the film in 2017, the year of its release. "Whatever you think about the past and future of what used to be called “race relations” — white supremacy and the resistance to it, in plainer English — this movie will make you think again, and may even change your mind."

The film is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and consists entirely of Baldwin's own words, from many of his published works as well as unpublished letters. The film also draws on a compendium of film and video of Baldwin's public and private appearances. The film, Scott writes, "doesn’t just make you aware of Baldwin, or hold him up as a figure to be admired from a distance. You feel entirely in his presence, hanging on his every word, following the implications of his ideas as they travel from his experience to yours"

Writing in EMPIRE, critic Nikki Braught describes "Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am" as a "celebratory portrait of (the) author ... painted by those who knew her, this compelling documentary also explores how her work gives such a powerful voice to the African American experience."

The film, released earlier this year, follows Morrison's life and career as an editor and features remembrances from friends including Angela Davis, Walter Mosely, Oprah Winfrey and others.

We are thrilled to welcome the following distinguished scholars to the panel:

Justin Joyce, Ph.D. is one of the founding editors of James Baldwin Review and Research Director for President McBride at The New School. An interdisciplinary scholar of literature and film, his first monograph is Gunslinging Justice: The American Culture of Gun Violence in Westerns and The Law (Manchester UP, 2018). He has been featured in interviews and discussions on The Humanities on the High Plains podcast and on RadioWest. Dr. Joyce’s writings have also appeared in A Historical Guide to James Baldwin (2009), James Baldwin in Context (2019), The Oxford Handbook of the African American Slave Narrative (2014), and the journals Western American Literature, James Baldwin Review, Public Seminar, and Great Plains Quarterly. 

James Baldwin Review (JBR) is an annual journal that brings together a wide array of peer‐reviewed critical and creative non-fiction on the life, writings, and legacy of James Baldwin. The journal is available for free on its open access website: https://www.manchesteropenhive.com/view/journals/jbr/jbr-overview.xml

A.J. Verdelle is a working mother and author of The Good Negress, a novel that won five national prizes, including: a Whiting Writers Award, finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, for the IMPAC/Dublin Literary Award, and for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Verdelle also received the Vursell Distinguished Prose Fiction award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Verdelle has published essays about art, photography, and Hurricane Katrina. Verdelle teaches undergraduates at Morgan State University and works with graduate writers in the low-residency MFA program at Lesley University. In Fall 2021, Harper/Amistad will publish Ms. Verdelle’s memoir about her relationship with the late Toni Morrison.

Both films are currently streaming over several platforms.You are encouraged to view the film prior to the discussion.

Admission to the film panel discussion is free but you must register here!