Not settle for in gauging your conversations, please Pay Attention and well, our panel of moderator is here. Thank you. [applause] hello. Hello. Hello. Welcome. I hope thats you are settled and a driver we have an amazing panel this afternoon. And i am honored to be here to sorts of moderates but really to open the stage for these brilliant people, a Brilliant Minds to talk to us about the work they have done and the work that they have continued to do. This is maintaining cultural legacies. Our cultural memory as part of our collective domain, of the droll literal text is a repository they transmit and give shape to our memories and experiences and reveal various ways the present has been shaped by the past. They also proposed for future understanding and living. Certainly the idea is and subjects represented in the literary and cultural works created gathered here have been discussed, debated and celebrated by readers worldwide. Their work has become part of what some have termed the black literary challenge. Used the plural as a way that designates the black lineage that we turn to to understand and inventor where and who we are. As a way to point to the repository nature of black culture of political protection and creation. The cultural work make up the parts of that arsenal read by the general public and more specifically by students of color. The writers on the round table were Cultural Workers and activists from the 60s and 70s making it happen. With poetry or fiction or political manifesto manifesto, cultural and political criticisms and serious stablishing breaching workshops establishing curriculum for black studies across america. And gauged by and committed to both the literary and what will rents a thomas called non the three black life these writers reconfigures the American Literary both app holmes and abroad. I am pausing a moment i am hoping to gather to panelists will appear but we have the 2014 polar it laurate laureate. [applause] and new orleans board dr. Through made in new york his home since the 1960s 1960s, he lives on the new york space east side where he is known as a heckler. [laughter] the author of plays and essays and some unpublished novels also a producer and publisher and director of the arts and Cultural Organization with the magazine and a gallery of the same name. Is the iconic east village gallery and he has ben and i mentor to young poets and his residence has provided a nurturing forum for poetry readings and events and other activities which showcase the east village cultural history. A retired professor and professor ken and one of the Founding Members of the umbra workshop of artists and musicians. In his absence i will introduce them nonetheless David Henderson a Founding Member of umbra as well. His first book was published in 67 under the poet press imprint with an introduction by mary barack of. She has also published the mayor of harlem as well as the critically acclaimed biography of jimi hendrix which is the expanded version released 2009 with photos and more commentary by David Henderson. He published the apology and an end to the magazine including the desk poetry reader and has read from his poetry from the permanent our cars from the library of congress the board of harlem and raised in harlem and the bronx now lives downtown. [laughter] she will be here shortly. Mr. Reid, i should call all of these writers professors. To abolish the incredible amount of work they have done not just as writers providers who are trying to shape how we understand who and what we are and what kind of knowledge we received such professor reid is the opener of the ever known to Lifetime Achievement award and the Readers Digest award. Nominated former pulitzer and finalist for National Book award and professor at the university of california berkeley and founder of the before columbus condition perverting multicultural riding also apart of the group that offers a josef the new board and also is author of essays and plays and poetry and a publisher and producer. I could go on. [laughter] we also have an absence professor sanchez. What is amazing up here is i have pages of biographies and realize i should keep it short so you can hear from them. But professor sanchez is known for her innovative melding of musical forms like blues and national and like haiku. She was awarded a 10 rating of ford and the National EducationAssociation AwardNational Academy and the arts award and a fellowship fellowship, one of the first to teach black women writers curriculum and San Francisco state. She is the brilliant and powerful person i hope she finds her way to us. Certainly last but not least is professor from north california. Was born in North Carolina by raised in ohio. I guess you where you are born is not you are from. He moved to new york city and also one of the founders of the umbra writers workshop. He was at the United Nations to protest the assassination in 1961. An illustrator for umbra magazine the liberator magazine contributor to the freedom ways and was part of to 22 joined the revolutionary Action Movement in the 50s. And in 1964 he founded afro world to organize the harlem uptown use conference. Also an important part of the blackguards movement. And cofounder. And cofounder. [applause] please give these magnificent writers a round of applause. [applause] i have to say this setup know where you got that from but i am also vote winner of the 1989 american book award for literature and also for my book from the pyramids to the projects and the 2003 henderson award from the africanamerican and cultural society. I now live in boston and i has been active with writers and young people and activist in the boston area. [applause] you have to tell the story. [laughter] i only have three questions i put them on the table. The three questions the first is because this is a panel on cultural magnificence and to maintain that the first question is who you were reading in the 60s and discussing. Writers, musicians felt were influencing your work that you were talking about. Question number one. Question number two has to do with the pork you have done with black studies to establish black studies but the of reach beyond because all four if you are founders of umbra. I was not a founder. You are a member. At what point . And David Henderson was the actual founder. But we were acting members. Umbra was 52 through 64 . It was earlier than that. 61. That was the period after. But there is what was called umbra extensions so my question is to the work that you have done. Umbra, a with associating with black creatures all learn from each other. Sometimes it was a lot of fun but sometimes it was like a criminal defendant. [laughter] because we were very hard on each other and did not tolerate mediocrity. So that led to a conflict. It said the black Repertory Theater comes out of umbra because some members converted into nationalism. She could have then the emperor of the Lower East Side with the only black person but he chose a different direction. In 1964 i was listening to the radio. With the trends of black culture. [laughter] you heard them on the radio call us revolutionaries. Then there were some events that affected politics one was the assassination of malcolm x which impressed and influenced all of us then there was the bombing of the church and vomit birmingham. But umbra taught me how to be a writer because i studied literature courses so it was the place where you could work through your peers. Aisle is trying to get people to look through a common experience he tried to get women to read books by women or hispanics to read books by hispanics at the California College of the arts by of had enough of teaching that we have hispanic students who have never heard of hispanic writers and now i have black students to read never heard of we tend. So the importance of umbra was that it led to a recognition as the africanamerican writers as a voice they heard around me to have some kind of master dash a. To spread like a positive contagion around the country. From a few weeks ago the chinese american polar i just published her book and was the poet laureate at the time of other groups found theres. What about the names of the writers in the workshop . I started to think. The way i got involved is senate david souter ishmael and he said there really respect to this guy he would give it you will Read Everything he can get his hands on. And to join the organization that was said for the organization of young men so they are arguing about a contemporary policy malcolm x and Martin Luther king. And as far as the other writers involved with umbra that was ever but a. I have a short list. Certainly norman, a calvin, lenox, lloyd tom tom, jane, raymond, steve, c harles, art, and others like florence who at the time was married to jack. James johnson. Im sorry. Of course. I am sure i the us to other people out of course, i have a statement his malice said being a up in buffalo he did not know anything about black writers until he got to new york and joined us. I am from new orleans and a growing up in d. C. And in the south with those black professors so youd never think of booker t. Washington or anything else. Of the most wonderful thing i remember i went to booker t. Washington high school for the first time. And all the young people in my class loved this english teacher than i could find out why they were crazy about him. He had memorized every single poem by cinnabar sinbad. And then that i had the pleasure of communicating but to get in touch with the writing we just write a letter so i sent a letter since i always publish but then he jumped ship from the country and went to paris but when i got ready to sit on my but to compose it is solid reference to what he was doing with the domestic tales of paul wind back in those days as opposed to his other writings. I think to complete a book on mohammad all be called the complete, all the it will be published next year in montreal. I could not get an american publisher because i had a complex view of his long one dash is lomb islam. The mae and to set it up was a harvard graduate. But i find it ironic in new york there was one sidetrack the idea people were created by a Mad Scientist . It was fascist, a racist and he succeeded his father muhammad ali abandoned it. Were not talking about the inner circle. He told me writing material as the evil came upon the overall. And some of his best friends were jewish. This was complimentary of jewish culture. But of all kinds of people to negotiate trade and also found looking at the nation of islam you are damned if you do and if you dont. Right now we have paul rice and. Is as ben that way for generations so if i could do back i want to get back to the umbra workshop. He has a lot to do with it because it has to do with the elections. [laughter] but i am writing a book with Kathy Jackson and the whole objective of the public and private sector is too depressed black cassettes. Academics appear but dont discuss business but we lost hundreds of billions of dollars because of criminal banks like wells fargo and bank of america. They are criminal operations. People who try to do business they would sabotage any way. The farms, the cattle was poisoned the cia intervened to then they enter boxing was controlled by hoodlums when they tried to enter boxing favors sabotage by the mafia. But now back to umbra for just a minute. Excuse me. I have to intervene at this point. I have not had a chance to say anything. I love you, but we also talk about umbra and the black Arts Movement as well. I would say this. The roots of what was to become the black Arts Movement started on the Lower East Side but there were also other forces in harlem and brooklyn that were very active. And as i recall we had a harlem conference in harlem where my great rather larry and i hosted thats. And he is in the audience at this time he was one of the young progressive former students and businessmen who invited us to have that conference. Because black people were just devastated by the malcolm x assassination and we had not gotten over the slayings of evans and of little children in birmingham. So be collectively came together to try to restore the morale and a sense of purpose to the people of harlem with the uptown News Conference where the work good brother brothers were introduced to the harlem community