{"id":213977,"date":"2026-04-29T12:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/213977\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:50:09","slug":"celebrating-malcolm-x-and-lorraine-hansberry-in-brooklyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/213977\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Malcolm X And Lorraine Hansberry in Brooklyn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Billie Holiday Theatre hosts a one-night program marking Malcolm X and Lorraine Hansberry\u2019s shared birthday with short plays and live music.<\/p>\n<p>        &#13;<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1645\" data-start=\"1236\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/thebillieholidaytheatre.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Billie Holiday Theatre<\/a>, in partnership with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bedstuyarthouse\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bed-Stuy Art House<\/a>, will present Happy Birthday Malcolm &amp; Lorraine: A Return to Foundation Through Theater Arts and Live Music on May 15.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1645\" data-start=\"1236\">The one-night program marks the shared birthday of Malcolm X and Lorraine Hansberry. The event combines original short plays, live music and contemporary performance, focusing on how the work of both figures continues to shape artistic expression and cultural identity. Rather than presenting their legacies as historical reflection, the program frames their ideas as ongoing points of engagement for artists and audiences.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1645\" data-start=\"1236\">\u201cMalcolm and Lorraine helped shape how generations understood dignity, freedom\u00a0and the power of thought,\u201d said Shaun Neblett, producer and curator at the Bed-Stuy Art House. \u201cThis event is about returning to foundation and carrying those teachings forward through living art.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"malcolm-x-2\" id=\"file-4370282\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/malcolm-x-2.jpeg;w=960.jpeg\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n. Photo: Supplied\/ The Billie Holiday Theatre&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1985\" data-start=\"1647\">Malcolm X\u2019s emphasis on self-determination, discipline and Black consciousness, alongside Hansberry\u2019s examination of race, class and power, informs the structure of the evening. The performances explore how those themes remain relevant in current social and creative contexts, linking past movements to present-day narratives.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2561\" data-start=\"2315\">The program features original work by Shaun Neblett, Nambi E. Kelley and Felicia Cade, with music direction by Cinque Kemp. Together, the artists use theater and sound to examine how historical influence continues to inform contemporary practice.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2561\" data-start=\"2315\">\u201cThis work speaks directly to our mission at The Billie\u2014to uplift storytelling that is rooted in history and responsive to the moment,\u201d said Shadawn Smith, executive director of the Billie. \u201cHappy Birthday Malcolm &amp; Lorraine! invites audiences to engage two visionary voices whose impact continues to resonate across generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2916\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\" data-start=\"2826\">Tickets and additional information are available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/happy-birthday-malcolm-lorraine-tickets-1987555005525\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"lorraine-hansberry1\" id=\"file-4370281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lorraine-hansberry1.jpeg;w=960.jpeg\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n. Photo: Supplied\/ The Billie Holiday Theatre&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>    <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Billie Holiday Theatre hosts a one-night program marking Malcolm X and Lorraine Hansberry\u2019s shared birthday with short&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[84437,98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-213977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-billie-holiday-theatrelorraine-hansberrymalcolm-x","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}