Unbought & Unbossed: Empowering Our Voice & Choice

IN-PERSON

Do you have your voting plan mapped out?

In the lead-up to national and local elections, the National Black Theatre and the Schomburg Center invite you to join us on October 17 for Unbought & Unbossed: Empowering Our Voice & Choice. This will be a multi-layered event with a Civic Activation Fair, an engaging panel discussion and dialogue, and voter registration, as we chart our communities paths to securing the vote.

Unbought & Unbossed: Empowering Our Voice & Choice will offer attendees a multi-layered experience guided by key voices from the community that are devoted to activating our collective voting power and empowering our voice and choice at the ballots including: opening remarks by Council Member Dr. Yusef Salaam, a panel discussion moderated by De’Ara Balenger (Co-Founder of Maestra) with Dr. Mahogany L. Browne (Poet-in-Residence at Lincoln Center), DeRay Mckesson (Executive Director of Campaign Zero, Activist, Educator, Podcaster) and Nelini Stamp (Director of Strategy of the Working Families Party and co-founder of Broadway Votes). Additionally, attendees can expect to see archival works commissioned by NBT including You're Going To Be Okay by Ngozi Anyanwu and 1920/2020: or Processing Anxiety Around Voting by Dane Figueroa Edidi.

Event Schedule:

5:30 PM - 8 PM Civic Activation Fair: Connect with local organizations, register to vote, create a voting plan, and get informed about how to make your vote count.

6:30 PM Panel Discussions & Dialogue: Hear from thought leaders and activists on the importance of voter engagement and strategies to empower your voice. Together, we can create a voting plan that empowers our community and shapes our future.

About the National Black Theatre

National Black Theatre (NBT) is a Emmy-nominated and Tony Award-winning institution founded in 1968 by the late visionary artist Dr. Barbara Ann Teer. The nation’s first revenue-generating Black arts complex, NBT is the longest-running Black theatre in New York City, one of the oldest theatres founded and consistently operated by a woman of color in the nation, and has been included in the permanent collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. NBT’s core mission is to produce transformational theatre that helps to shift the inaccuracies around African Americans’ cultural identity by telling authentic stories of Black lives. As an alternative learning environment, NBT uses theatre arts as a means to educate, enrich, entertain, empower and inform the national conscience around current social issues impacting our communities. Visitor">span>or follow NBT on Facebook (@NationalBlackTheatre) and Twitter/Instagram (@NatBlackTheatre).

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

ACCESSIBLILITY

ASL interpretation will be provided upon availability of interpreters. Live captioning is available for streaming programs. Additional accessibility requests can be made by e-mail [email protected].

#SchomburgLive | Learn more about the Schomburg Center at schomburgcenter.org.

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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.

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.

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 professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

PUBLIC NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER

IN-PERSON | By registering for this event, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending an in-person program at The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold The New York Public Library, its Trustees, officers, agent and employees liable for any illness or injury. If you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or suspect you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, please stay home.