Echoes of Baldwin: The James Baldwin Centennial Celebration Archive
Did you know that James Baldwin once dreamed of attending City College? His DeWitt Clinton High School yearbook photo even lists CCNY as his college of choice. Though his path ultimately led elsewhere, his legacy lives on in the heart of Harlem, right where City College stands today.
This page serves as an archive of The James Baldwin Centennial Celebration, a semester-long tribute hosted by The City College of New York in Fall 2024. The celebration honored Baldwin’s enduring influence through a film series, a scholarly symposium with live music, panel discussions, youth performances, and a community walk through Harlem. Scholars, artists, students, and community members gathered to reflect on Baldwin’s words and witness their ongoing power in today’s world.
As part of the celebration, a Presidential Award was posthumously conferred upon James Baldwin by CCNY President Vincent Boudreau. The award was accepted by Trevor Baldwin, Baldwin’s nephew and founder of the Baldwin United Fund, on behalf of the Baldwin family.
This archive preserves event recordings and photographs to ensure that Baldwin’s spirit continues to inspire future generations.
With gratitude for the vision of CCNY’s Baldwin Scholar, Professor Gordon Thompson, and for the invaluable contributions of committee members: Emily Raboteau, Michelle Valladares, William Gibbons, Shamecca Harris, Megan Skelly, Kedon Williams, Jerry Carlson, and Janee Moses.
The City College of New York presents a semester-long celebration of the enduring legacy of Harlem-bred writer and activist James Baldwin.
Born in 1924, James Baldwin’s extensive body of work, which spans essays, speeches, plays, poetry, short stories, and novels, fearlessly tackles racial and social issues, offering profound insights into the Black American experience in the 20th century that continue to resonate today.
Spanning fall 2024, the CCNY James Baldwin Centennial Celebration will encompass film screenings, panels, performances, a writing contest and a Harlem community walk centered on the legacy of James Baldwin, our hometown giant. With respect to two other vibrant Baldwin festivals unfolding nearby via One Book, One Bronx and the New York Public Library, and in collaboration with Harlem Renaissance High School and DeWitt Clinton High School, the City College celebration will spotlight the influence of Harlem upon Baldwin, and the influence of Baldwin upon the world.
Our celebration includes the following three components:
1. Our Hometown Giant Film Series
Screenings: Thursday, September 26 | Tuesday, November 12 | Thursday, November 21
2. Symposium
Thursday, December 5th | 10:30 AM – 4:00 PM
NAC Ballroom
Live Music by students from the CCNY Music Department
“To Be Young Gifted and Black,” “I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free,” “Go Tell it On the Mountain”
President’s Award conferred by Vincent Boudreau upon Trevor Baldwin, nephew and founder of the Baldwin United Fund, accepting on behalf of the Baldwin family
Keynote Conversation: “Remembering Baldwin” w/ Herb Boyd, Quincy Troupe, and Trevor Baldwin
Performance of James Baldwin’s “A Letter to My Nephew” by students from DeWitt Clinton High School (Baldwin’s alma mater)
Lunch from Jacob Soul Food and Aladdin Campus Dining
Panel 1: Baldwin in Harlem: Our Hometown Giant” w/ Maurice Wallace, Kima Jones and Manan Ahmed
(moderated by Emily Raboteau)
Panel 2: “Baldwin in the World: His trans-Atlantic Legacy” w/ Farah Jasmine Griffin, Rich Blint and Soraya Palmer
(moderated by Kedon Willis)
Books sold by Sisters Uptown Bookstore
3. Harlem Community Walk
Friday, December 6th | 10 AM onwards
Departing from the NYPL Harlem Branch, 9 W 124th Street
Explore James Baldwin’s Harlem on a walking tour of the following sites: P.S. 24, The Hollows, Fireside Church, P.S. 139, Harlem Hospital, Langston Hughes House, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
(led by William Gibbons, Reference Librarian)
In partnership with:
Sisters Uptown Bookstore, Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN), Ghetto Film School, Media and Communication Arts (MCA), Black Studies Department, English Department, MFA Program in Creative Writing, Music Department, Cohen Library, City College Center for the Arts, DeWitt Clinton High School, Harlem Renaissance High School, Jacob Soul Food
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
Professor Gordon Thompson has a laudable career spanning nearly 24 years of teaching and service at City College, Louisiana State University, and Stanford University. As director of the Black Studies Program, he had a record of administrative leadership, including planning, budgeting for and managing an academic program. As creator, principal investigator, and director of the RAP-SI project of the Black Male Initiative, he demonstrated the ability to successfully organize a staff and build a service-oriented mentoring program. As director of the Langston Hughes Festival Committee, he has been in continuous service to the Committee since 1990. As professor of African American and American literature in the English Department he has demonstrated a strong publication record with scholarly expertise in the area of the African American narrative praxis. Lastly, as a scholar, he has several peer-reviewed publications, is a frequent participant at national and international conferences and is the editor/co-editor of several books.
Emily Raboteau
Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés is the director of the Black Studies Program at The City College of New York-CUNY. A graduate of Yale and Vanderbi
Sydney Valerio believes we are all a living archive of the stories and places our bodies navigate. As a creative, she is fueled by her professional work as an educator and community cultural worker to create spaces and experiences for all parts of the community to engage with and access. 
