Monday night I attended The Schomburg Center’s 85th Anniversary in Harlem. For those who are unaware The Schomburg is a library dedicated to the research of black culture and named after the famed historian, writer, and activist, Arturo Schomburg, whose personal collection of black literature, art, and slave narratives created the library’s foundation. As the story goes… At a young age Schomburg was told “Black people have no history, no heroes, no great moments” by a teacher in grade school. Convinced he was misinformed he made it his mission in life to not only prove his teacher wrong but to research and chronicle the history and accomplishments of the Afro-Latino and Afro-American people.

Along with celebrating 85 years of The Schomburg Center’s existence artists like the legendary Ruby Dee, Cicley Tyson, and Andre DeShields, in addition to literary greats Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Susan Taylor, and Tuskegee Airman, Roscoe Brown paid tribute to Howard Dodson Jr., who after 25 years of serving as the library’s Director is retiring and passing the torch to Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a History Professor at Indiana University. In a recent interview with The NYTimes, Muhammed, described as “a member of the hip-hop generation” notes “he plans to be active in acquiring the papers of a new generation of black achievers, including entertainers, scholars and athletes”.