Literary | Talks
Darnell L. Moore
- 7PM
With Brittney Cooper, Kierna Mayo, and Marc Lamont Hill, Déon Sass, and DJ Just Love
Launch of No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America
Co-presented by BAM and Greenlight Bookstore
Writer and activist Darnell L. Moore celebrates the launch of his new memoir, No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America (Nation Books), an honest reckoning with family, place, and what it means to be free. Moore leads this interdisciplinary evening which features a performance by dancer Déon Sass; musical interludes by DJ Just Love; and a series of one-on-one conversations with authors and cultural critics Brittney Cooper, Marc Lamont Hill, and Kierna Mayo, followed by a panel and audience discussion on black literature and the role of critics of color.
In No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America, Moore traces the arc of his life from his childhood in Camden, New Jersey, a city scarred by uprisings and repression; to his search for intimacy in the gay neighborhoods of Philadelphia; and, finally, to the movements in Newark, Brooklyn, and Ferguson, where he fought for others who, like himself, survive on the fringes of society.
Book signing with Darnell L. Moore to follow.
This event is supported by Critical Minded, an initiative to invest in cultural critics of color cofounded by The Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
Darnell Moore is an editor-at-large at CASSIUS (iOne Digital), a columnist at LogoTV.com and NewNowNext.com, and a contributor at Mic, where he hosted a widely viewed digital series The Movement. He writes regularly for Ebony, Advocate, Vice, and The Guardian. Moore is a writer-in-residence at the Center of African American Religion, Sexual Politics, and Social Justice at Columbia University, has taught at NYU, Rutgers, Fordham, and Vassar, and was trained at Princeton Theological Seminary. No Ashes in the Fire is his first book.
Brittney Cooper writes a popular monthly column on race, gender, and politics for Cosmopolitan. She is a professor of women's and gender studies and Africana studies at Rutgers University and a co-founder of the Crunk Feminist Collective. She is the author of several books, including Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Ebony.com, and TheRoot.com, among other publications. In 2017, she was included on The Root 100 List.
Marc Lamont Hill is an award-winning journalist and the host of BET News, as well as a political contributor to CNN. He is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University and has held positions at Columbia University and Morehouse College. He is the author of several books, including Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, From Ferguson to Flint and Beyond. He splits his time between Atlanta and New York City.
Kierna Mayo is a brand consultant with iOne Digital and the creator of its flagship millennial platform CASSIUS. A veteran brand architect, she has been widely recognized as a content trailblazer. She was previously the editor-in-chief of Ebony and prior to that, the editor-in-chief of Honey, for over two decades. Mayo writes extensively on race, gender, and culture and as a cultural critic appears a frequent guest on cable news programs including CNN Tonight. She is currently is on sabbatical completing her first screenplay.
DJ Just Love immerses herself in music as a refuge and a safe place. She learned the art of DJing at New York’s Scratch DJ Academy and continued to hone her unique talent for combining genres into infectious mixes at venues in Newark, Brooklyn, and surrounding areas.
Déon Sass is originally from Brooklyn and his creativity and love for the arts from an early age led him to the Ailey School. His passion for dance has come full circle, ushering him onto stages in the New York metro area and around the world.