TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing — Screening & Performance

"Are you sure, sweetheart, that you want to be well?… Just so's you're sure, sweetheart, and ready to be healed, cause wholeness is no trifling matter. A lot of weight when you're well." — Toni Cade Bambara, The Salt Eaters

Join BYP100 Detroit for a powerful evening of film, performance, and community dialogue as we honor the life and legacy of Toni Cade Bambara—writer, filmmaker, cultural worker, and one of the most influential Black feminist voices of the 20th century.

We will screen the new documentary TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing (2025, 105 minutes), directed by Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez. The film reconstructs Bambara's extraordinary life through her own words and the stories of colleagues, friends, and students who knew her.

Structured as a series of lessons on cultural organizing, the film reveals how Bambara—with humor and deep insight—inspired a generation of artists to dedicate themselves to community empowerment.

Following the screening, we will host a live performance and an open community dialogue on the lessons we can carry forward into our own organizing today.

TCB - The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing (2025, 105 minutes) is a biography of the influential writer, filmmaker, and cultural worker. With humor and deep insight, Bambara inspired a generation of artists to dedicate themselves to community empowerment. The film is structured as a series of lessons on cultural organizing, gleaned from Bambara's life and shared by her friends, colleagues, and students.

Toni Cade Bambara understood that art is not separate from organizing—it is a tool for it. She believed that cultural work is liberation work.

As part of Black Youth Weekend, this screening is a chance for our generation of Detroit organizers to sit at the feet of an elder, learn from the cultural workers who came before us, and ask ourselves: What does it mean to be well? What does it take to be healed? And how do we build a world where that wholeness is possible for all of us?

This event is part of a three-day celebration of Black youth and our collective becoming:

• Thursday, Nov 12: We Are Becoming — Poetry Workshop & Performance with FreeQuency
• Friday, Nov 13: TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing (this event)
• Saturday, Nov 14: The People's Potluck — Prepare To Care

Come for one. Come for all three.

• Black youth and young adults (18–35)
• Artists, filmmakers, writers, and cultural workers
• Community organizers and activists
• BYP100 members, prospective members, and movement elders
• Anyone interested in Black feminist thought, cultural organizing, or the legacy of Toni Cade Bambara

No prior knowledge required. Come as you are, ready to learn and be moved.

• Location: TBA — the exact address will be emailed to all registrants.

This event is free and open to the community. Space is limited, so please RSVP in advance to secure your seat.

• Follow BYP100 Detroit: @byp100_detroit
• Fill out our interest form: bit.ly/bypDetroit

Wholeness is no trifling matter. Come be in community as we learn how to be well—together.

In solidarity,
BYP100 Detroit