Founded in 2002, the mission of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY (CBL) is to expand, broaden, and enrich the public’s knowledge and aesthetic appreciation of Black literature by people of the African Diaspora. Greene, the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College builds on the tradition and legacy of the National Black Writers Conference and serves as a voice
, mecca, and resource for black writers and the general public to study the literature of people from the African Diaspora. The mission of the Center for Black Literature is to expand, broaden, and enrich the public’s knowledge and aesthetic appreciation of the value of black literature. Through a series of programs that build an audience for the reading, discussion, and critical analysis of contemporary black literature and that serve as a forum for the research and study of black literature, the Center convenes and supports various literary programs and events such as author signings, writing workshops, panel discussions, conferences, and symposia. Its intellectual approach to program activities is an integrative one that focuses on the ways in which the literary arts and cultural values inform the work of black writers and the ways in which these works influence the culture at large. Through its collaborations with public schools and organizations such as the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum, the Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture, the Brooklyn Literary Council and the PEN American Center, the Center for Black Literature serves as a vehicle for nurturing and cultivating the critical reading and writing habits of a cross-generation of readers and writers and provides university, community and public institutions with literary programs such as conferences, symposia, book discussions, author signings and writing workshops. Funding and support for Center programs have been provided by the public and private sector and include organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the New York Council on the Humanities, Poets and Writers, and the Brooklyn Community Foundation.
