Sapphire, the Legend of Jackie Robinson, and More Lead Black History Month at the Sheen Center

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture celebrates Black History Month this February with four special events featuring some the preeminent Black writers, artists and activists of our time. Tickets/reservations are available online at SheenCenter.org, by phone at 212-925-2812, in-person at The Sheen Center box office, or OvationTix.com.

THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL

A DISCUSSION WITH FILMMAKERS KEITH BEAUCHAMP AND Frederick Zollo

Thursday, February 1 at 8PM in The Loreto Theater

Social filmmaking at its most effective, Keith Beauchamp's documentary reconstructs the infamously brutal murder of the 14-year-old African-American boy that helped to usher in the American Civil Rights Movement. A post-screening discussion with Beauchamp andFrederick Zollo (Mississippi Burning, Ghosts of Mississippi), who is currently turning the documentary into a feature film with first-time director Whoopi Goldberg. Tickets: $15

RACE IN AMERICA: TELLING OUR STORIES

A CONVERSATION WITH SAPPHIRE, MAJOR JACKSON, AND Patrick Phillips

Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30PM in The Loreto Theater

Stories can be drivers of real change during these times of racial tension. A conversation with readings by author Sapphire (Push), poet and professor Major Jackson (Hoops), and poet and author Patrick Phillips (Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America). Moderated by Obie-winning producer Kelley Nicole Girod(Fire This Time Festival). Tickets: $25

LITTLE ROCK

EXCERPTED PLAY READING AND PANEL DISCUSSION EVENT

Thursday, February 22, 2018 at 3PM in The Loreto Theater

This play by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj tells the story of nine brave students who wanted a better education at a white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas at the dawn of the civil rights movement in 1957, three years after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case. Little Rock became ground zero in the fight to integrate public schools across America. With the aid of an emerging technology called television, the world met a brave and stalwart group of black teenagers who would become known as The Little Rock Nine, along with a supporting cast including a defiant Governor, a resolute President, and 11,000 federal troops.

Directed by the playwright and produced by Rebel Theatrical Management, LLC, this reading will consist of excerpts from the play prior to the full production at The Loreto Theater this spring. The event features a panel discussion about a seminal chapter in American history with panelists for the post-reading discussion will include Carlotta Walls, one of the members of the Little Rock Nine. Tickets are free. RSVP required.

JACKIE ROBINSON: THE FAITH BEHIND THE LEGEND

AUTHOR'S NIGHT WITH ED HENRY

Tuesday, February 27 at 7:30PM in The Black Box Theater

Join Fox News' chief national correspondent Ed Henry as he discusses his New York Times bestselling book "42 Faith: The Rest of the Jackie Robinson Story." Henry will be signing copies of his book after. Tickets: $10

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture is a forum to showcase works highlighting the true, the good, and the beautiful. Located downtown on historic Bleecker Street, the Sheen Center is a vibrant new arts organization that focuses on theater, music, film, and talk. A project of the Archdiocese of New York, the state-of-the-art complex encompasses the 270-seat Loreto Theatre, equipped with five-camera high-definition live-stream capability and a multi-track recording studio; the 80-seat Black Box Theatre; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery. It was named after the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best known for his popular, inspirational radio and TV ministry in the 1950s and 60s.