Unboxing Legacies: Our Stuff, Our Stories

Join us for a dynamic dialogue with Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart founders of BLK MKT Vintage and Renata Cherlise, founder of BlackArchives.co moderated by Kei Williams from Black Gotham Experience. Together they will explore the intersections of memory, archiving, material culture, and community storytelling. The conversation will delve into how Black history is preserved, shared, and activated through everyday objects, and how contemporary archives and platforms shape the narratives we pass forward.

BLK MKT Vintage: Reclaiming Objects and Curiosities That Tell Black Stories by Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart and Black Archives: A Photographic Celebration of Black Life by Renata Cherlise will both be available in the Schomburg Shop and a book signing will follow the program.

5 PM-6:30 PM

We begin the evening in the Langston Hughes Lobby with an interactive experience, Community Heirlooms & Histories Showcase. Guests are invited to take part in an intimate, interactive “roadshow” experience centered on personal Black history and cultural memory. Community members interested in showcasing their heirlooms, please complete this form. Participants are encouraged to bring their own heirlooms such as photographs, textiles, books, vinyl, artworks, and everyday ephemera,to be informally examined and celebrated. This gathering honors the power of preservation and the richness of material culture within the African Diaspora.

6:30 PM-8 PM

Conversation with BLK MKT Vintage & BlackArchives.co

Langston Hughes Auditorium

This two-part event invites participants to engage, reflect, and deepen their connection to personal and collective histories.

This year, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding! Join us all year long for a wide array of special events, exhibitions, and more as we celebrate this milestone and continue the legacy of Arturo Schomburg.

Schomburg100 | Exhibition | Special-Edition Library Card | Become a Member

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FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED Events are free and open to all, but due to space constraints registration is requested. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. After the event starts all registered seats are released regardless of registration, so we recommend that you arrive early. We generally overbook to ensure a full house.

GUESTS Please note that holding seats in the Langston Hughes Auditorium is strictly prohibited and there is no food or drinks allowed anywhere in the Schomburg Center.

ACCESSIBLILITY Accessibility requests can be made by e-mail [email protected].

E-TRANSPORTATION NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces & people safe.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at [email protected].

Please note that personal and professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

Info: Before the main conversation, guests are invited to take part in an intimate, interactive “roadshow” experience centered on personal Black history and cultural memory. Community members are encouraged to bring their own heirlooms such as photographs, textiles, books, vinyl, artworks, and everyday ephemera,to be informally examined and celebrated. Jannah and Kiyanna Handy founders of BLK MKT Vintage and Renata Cherlise, founder of BlackArchives.co will help contextualize these items, offering historical insight, cultural framing, and space for storytelling. This gathering honors the power of preservation and the richness of material culture within the African Diaspora.

Info: Following the roadshow, join a dynamic dialogue between Jannah and Kiyanna Handy founders of BLK MKT Vintage and Renata Cherlise, founder of BlackArchives.co moderated by Kei Williams from Black Gotham Experience. Together they will explore the intersections of memory, archiving, material culture, and community storytelling. The conversation will delve into how Black history is preserved, shared, and activated through everyday objects, and how contemporary archives shape the narratives we pass forward.

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Host or Publisher Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture