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20th Anniversary Celebratory Events
April 28, 2026
Join us to celebrate 20 years of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium! More events to be added!
EXHIBITION
April 16 - August 15, 2026
The Ways We Remember: Celebrating Twenty Years of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium
Bringing together a new project by renowned Chicago-based artist Candace Hunter alongside archival materials from the BMRC, the exhibition celebrates the ways archives have shaped both personal and institutional stewardship of Black history in Chicago.
Presenting the first part of a new body of work, Hunter responds to the displacement of Black communities on the South Side caused by the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway while considering the reparative possibilities of archival activation. The exhibition will be on view through August 15, 2026 at the BMRC at the Forum location, 320 E. 43rd Street in Chicago.
Exhibition Timings
April 17 - August 15, 2026
The Ways We Remember is free and open to the public!
Wednesday through Friday - 12 noon to 6PM
Saturday - 11am to 7PM
Sunday through Tuesday - CLOSED
Contact bmrc@uchicago.edu for information about school trips or tour groups.
Best way to get here: The CTA Green Line 43rd Street stop is right outside the door of the exhibition space.
If you do drive, street parking is available in the neighborhood.
FILM SCREENING & DISCUSSION
Are You a Librarian? Black Librarians and Freedom Through Literacy
April 14, 2026 2-3:30 PM
The Joseph Regenstein Library,
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
The documentary film Are You a Librarian? Black Librarians and Freedom Through Literacy uncovers the hidden legacy of Black librarians—from the era of enslavement and segregation to today’s battles over book bans and intellectual freedom. Through powerful interviews, archival footage, and expert insights, the film tells the story of how Black librarians transformed underfunded and segregated spaces into vital cultural and educational hubs for their communities.
An abbreviated screening will be presented by the Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) and the University of Chicago Library as part of its Library Futures series and Banned Books Initiative. A discussion led by the film’s director and producer, Rodney E. Freeman, Jr., and BMRC Executive Director Sumayya Ahmed will follow the screening.
For detailed information and registration, click here.
BOOK TALK
Dorothy Berry on The House Archives Built and Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities
May 7, 2026, 5-7 PM
Smart Museum of Art,
5550 S. Greenwood Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637
Archivist and author Dorothy Berry and Black Metropolis Research Consortium Executive Director Sumayya Ahmed discuss Berry's new book, and the challenges and possibilities of Black archives within and outside of cultural heritage institutions.
REGISTRATION ENCOURAGED. Please register here.
Reception to follow.
Video of this event is available on the BMRC YouTube channel here.
FILM SCREENING
BAM! Chicago’s Black Arts Movement
JUNE 16, 2026 7:30 PM
BMRC Gallery
320 E. 43rd Street, Chicago IL 60653
“BAM! Chicago’s Black Arts Movement” features interviews with Adams, Haki Madhubuti, Safisha Madhubuti, Phil Cohran, Eugene Redmond, Mwata Bowden, Carole Parks, Angela Jackson and many other artists and scholars.
The film introduces viewers to the history of Chicago’s Black Arts Movement (BAM) and reflects on Chicago's extensive national and international impact of Chicago's Black writers, musicians and community organizers and the organizations and institutions that they supported and founded including the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC), Negro Digest/Black World, Institute of Positive Education, New Concept Development School, Ebony Talent Agency (ETA), the DuSable Museum, Third World Press, Johnson Publishing, Path Press, Kuumba Theatre, and the South Side Community Arts Center.
From the voices of those who participated, the film articulates the vision and history of the Black Arts moment in Chicago during the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s.
*Filmmaker Thabiti Lewis will be in attendance!
Please RSVP here
About the filmmakers:
Thabiti Lewis, a former BMRC Research Fellow, is the author of Ballers of the New School: Race and Sports in America (2010), Conversations With Toni Cade Bambara (2012), and "Black People Are My Business": Toni Cade Bambara’s Practices of Liberation (2020)
Pavithra Narayanan is the author of What are You Reading? The World Market and Indian Literary Production (2012) and the documentary film, India and Free Trade: A Closer Look at Bhopal (2000)
SYMPOSIUM
June 17-18, 2026
BMRC 20th Anniversary Symposium on Black Chicago
The Joseph Regenstein Library,
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Keynote Speaker: Davarian Baldwin
New Book Launch with Amani Morrison,
A Kitchenette to Fit your Needs: Housing Chicago's Great Migration
Symposium program and registration can be found here.
Top right image of man with balloons: John White's photos for Documerica 1973-1974, Chicago , 43rd Street. Public Domain Image Archive / U.S. National Archives