Programs and Events

These programs took place in 2007.

Go Tell It on the Mountain in Voice & Song
Monday, April 16, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Lower Level
400 S. State Street
Join us as we celebrate James Baldwin’s powerful novel in spoken word and song. Ensemble members from Steppenwolf Theatre Company will perform dramatic readings selected from the book and Dr. Danielle Allen, dean of the humanities at The University of Chicago, will discuss both the author and the book’s themes. The Pilgrim Baptist Church Choir will perform selections mentioned in the book’s text.

Jabari Asim
Wednesday, April 25, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Lower Level
400 S. State Street
Jabari Asim, author and editor of BookWorld, will discuss and sign copies of his book The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t and Why. Asim addresses the history of this controversial word and its root in American rhetoric and contemporary experience. In addition, Asim will discuss the use of the word in Go Tell It on the Mountain.

Film screenings

James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket
From the PBS American Masters series, this documentary captures the passionate intellect and courageous writing of James Baldwin. Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka and others lend commentary to this moving tribute.

• Monday, April 9, 6:30 p.m.
  Woodson Regional Library
  9525 S. Halsted Street
• Tuesday, April 17, 6:00 p.m.
  Harold Washington Library Center
  Video Theater, Lower Level
  400 S. State Street
• Thursday, April 26, 6:30 p.m.
  Sulzer Regional Library
  4455 N. Lincoln Avenue

Go Tell It on the Mountain
This filmed stage adaptation, from the PBS American Playhouse series, is an acclaimed production featuring Paul Winfield, Ruby Dee, Ving Rhames, CCH Pounder and Alfre Woodard.

• Thursday, April 12, 6:30 p.m.
  Woodson Regional Library
  9525 S. Halsted Street
• Saturday, April 21, 1:00 p.m.
  Harold Washington Library Center
  Video Theater, Lower Level
  400 S. State Street
  A discussion of the book and film follows this screening, at 3:00 p.m.
• Saturday, April 28, 2:30 p.m.
  Sulzer Regional Library
  4455 N. Lincoln Avenue

DePaul University Programs and Events

The following course and free events are sponsored by DePaul University’s Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program.

Read Go Tell It on the Mountain at DePaul University
Enroll in “Chicago’s One Book: Issues and Perspectives”
The centerpiece of this interdisciplinary, graduate-level course will be James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain. DePaul University invites adults to take this opportunity to read the city’s book selection in a setting that reaches beyond the limits of a book discussion group. This 10-week course meets on Wednesday evenings, beginning March 28, 2007. (Prerequisite: bachelor’s degree). For more information, including course tuition, please visit the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program website at las.depaul.edu/mals/ or call (773) 325-7840.

Panel Discussion
“Revisiting an American Icon: Interpreting James Baldwin’s Voice and Vision for the 21st Century”
Wednesday, April 11, 6:30 p.m.
DePaul University
2250 N. Sheffield Avenue, Student Center, Room 120
Join a panel of distinguished faculty from DePaul University who will address these questions: What did James Baldwin mean in his own time, and what does he mean to us today? How have events since the time of the civil rights movement redefined our understanding of the issues and themes in his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain? In what ways do Baldwin’s artistry and vision transcend the limits of a single era in America’s history and literature? Sponsored by DePaul University’s Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program. For more information, please call (773) 325-7840.

Film Screening and Discussion
The Dream Keepers—A Film Screening and Discussion
Monday, April 30, 6:30 p.m.
DePaul University
2250 N. Sheffield Avenue, Student Center, Room 120
Come to DePaul University to enjoy a screening of the film The Dream Keepers—part four of the PBS series I’ll Make Me a World: A Century of African American Arts. This film explores how James Baldwin epitomizes an era in America’s history and culture. A discussion will follow. Sponsored by DePaul University’s Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program. For more information, please call (773) 325-7840.