Harlem Book Fair 2011-7/23/11

The Harlem Book Fair will take place on Saturday, July 23, 2011, 11am-6pm,  at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,515 Malcolm X Boulevard @ West 135th Street. (See http://www.qbr.com/ for a downloadable program and event descriptions.)

If you can't make it you can watch the QBR/C-Span Panel Discussions on C-SPAN (http://www.c-span.org/) The list of events includes http://www.booktv.org/Program/12674/2011+Harlem+Book+Fair.aspx

Book TV will be LIVE from the 13th annual Harlem Book Fair from the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Our schedule of coverage includes:


11:00 AM ET - Michael Lomax, President of the United Negro College Fund, "The State of African American Literacy"
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/StateofAfr

11:40 AM ET - Panel: Manning Marable's Malcolm X
Herb Boyd, co-author, Civil Rights, Yesterday & Today
Peniel Joseph, Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama
Zaheer Ali, former associate director of Columbia University's Malcolm X Project
Sonia Sanchez, author and activist
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Marabl


1:05 PM ET - Panel: African American Economic History
Carol Jenkins, co-author of Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire
Julianne Malveaux, Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic History.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/BlackEc


2:30 PM ET - Panel: History of African American Humor
Larry Wilmore, I'd Rather We Got Casinos...and Other Black Thoughts
Mel Watkins, On the Real Side: The History of African-American Comedy
Sabrina Lamb, A Kettle of Vultures...Left Beak Marks On My Forehead
Jam Donaldson, Conversate Is Not A Word.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/BlackHu


3:55 PM ET - Panel: African American History and Biography
Carla Peterson, Black Gotham: A Family History of African-Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City
Gregory Jones, Job: A Man for His Time, A Man for Our Time, A Man for All Time
Craig Williams, The Olympian: An American Triumph
Mark Johnson, Basketball Slave: Andy Johnson Harlem Globetrotter/NBA Story
Dan Charnas, The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/HistoryandB


5:20 PM ET - Panel: Obama Administration
Wornie Reed, Yvonne Newsome, Hayward Derrick Horton, Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, and Deobrah King, contributors to Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, Vol. 16: Race in the Age of Obama
Johnny Hill, The First Black President: Barack Obama, Race, Politics, and the American Dream.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/AdministrationPa

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In addition to panel discussions, there will be book readings, author signings and a Young Reader's Pavilion with authors Sylvia Kinard, Jerry Craft, Cassandra Ulrich, Ty Jackson and Deborah Gregory.

Harlem Book Fair 2010

The 2010 Harlem Book Fair took place this past weekend at the NYPL Schomburg Branch

If you missed it, some of the events are archived on C-SPAN's Book TV.

The most important message from the panel discussions for librarians, teachers and parents was that if we want to see an increase in quality youth materials, representative of peoples of African descent and their history and culture, then we must SEEK OUT these materials at book fairs, libraries, and book stores; PURCHASE these materials and DEMAND that our SCHOOL LIBRARIES and CLASSROOMS contain these materials. These materials are not just for African American youth but contain universal themes for all readers. To prepare our youth for a diverse world, we have to provide them with materials that reflect that diversity.

The Program included some very stimulating and revealing panel discussions of interest to librarians and teachers. I have included both the descriptions and links to the archived videos.:

2010 HARLEM BOOK FAIR PROGRAM & SCHEDULE

SCHOMBURG C-SPAN PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Complete Saturday program
http://cspan.org/Watch/Media/2010/07/17/HP/A/35566/Harlem+Book+Fair.aspx


Of particular interest

White and Whatever: Diversity in Children’s & Young Adult Book Publishing
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/294543-5


The United States is an extremely diverse nation. But books for children and young adults hardly reflect that diversity. Only a small percentage of the books published every year are written and or illustrated by people of color. Many of these don’t make it to the market place. Why, in 2010, when the nation has elected its first African American president, is the book publishing industry still not meeting the need and demand for books that explore the width and breathe of our country’s multicultural experiences? This panel will explore the complex issues and suggest solutions to a problem that is garnering a lot of attention.

MODERATOR: Wade Hudson, Publisher, Just Us Books

PANELISTS: Jerry Craft, Mamma's Boyz; Zetta Elliott, Bird; Cheryl Willis Hudson, My Friend Maya Loves to Dance; Vanesse Lloyd Sgambati, Publicist; Director, African American Children's Book Project


From Digital Divide to Digital Inequality: Bridging the Market-driven Literacy Gap
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/294543-7

The advent of digital technology has redefined the very scope of literacy. While African American literacy rates are statistically on par with national averages, the advent of the market-driven digital age threatens timely access to information to the most economically disparaged...less a 'digital divide' than a 'information access' divide. Inequality of bandwidth; autonomy of use; skills level; quality of support; and purpose (whether the Internet is used for increase of economic productivity and improvement of social capital or for consumption and entertainment) are the current pressing concerns. These authors believe that visual representation is the one critical element that will balance the impact of these emerging issues and drive a new generation of readers successfully into this brave, new world.

MODERATOR: John Jennings, Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture (Mark Batty Publisher/Random)

PANELISTS: Damian Duffy, Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics (Krannert Art Museum), Dawud Anyabwile, Brotherman; Alex Simmons, DarkJACK; Gregory Walker, ZM1