Join renowned author Blair A. Ruble and veteran jazz broadcaster Rusty Hassan for a discussion on Ruble's most recent book, Washington's U Street: A Biography. A prominent urbanist, jazz aficionado and longtime Washington, D.C. resident, Blair Ruble is director of the Kennan Institute and of the Comparative Urban Studies Programs at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Rusty Hassan has been described by author and jazz journalist, Willard Jenkins as "...one of the warmest, most knowledgeable interviewers in jazz radio... one of those cornerstones of the jazz cognoscenti in the D.C. area." "Washington's U Street: A Biography" traces the history of this neighborhood from its Civil War-era origins to its recent gentrification.
This lecture will take place in the Great Hall, of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, on February 16th, at 1 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 202-727-1261.
In Celebration of Black History Month 2012, the DC Public Library is pleased to announce a concert by 
Liberated Muse Arts, in association with Soul Pixie Productions and the DC Public Library, presents "In Her Words," a performance celebrating the lives of African-American women. Join us for a theatrical musical presentation, "An Artist Speaks," examining the lives of artists Lena Horne, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Zora Neale Hurston and Lucille Clifton--creative women who used their artistic prowess to ignite and support social and political movements. Enjoy music and spoken monologue from the legendary women, culled from transcripts of speeches, autobiographical excerpts and interviews.
Please join us in the Black Studies Division at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library on February 21, at 6:30 p.m. for a stimulating discussion of the late Manning Marable's final work, Malcolm X, A Life of Reinvention. This discussion of Marable's controversial biography of Malcolm X will be led by Dr. Doug E. Taylor, Assistant Professor of English at Howard University.
On Monday, February 13, from 6:30-8 p.m., award-winning author Ruth Forman will pull poems that have influenced and inspired her poetic voice from the shelves of MLK's Black Studies Collection and read them aloud in her inimitable spoken word style. She will also share some of her own magical poems. Please join us for this special program in the Black Studies Division of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.
As part of the library's Black History month lecture series, 
The theme for Black History Month 2012 is 
