Wednesday, 2/27 in the Student Center MPRs
-5:30-6p.m. – Middleground activity
-6-8p.m. – Screening of If Beale Street Could Talk including free movie theater popcorn
Thursday, 2/28 in Petersen Board Room, 3rd Floor Snell
-12-1 p.m. – Book Discussion: If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
FREE LUNCH for the first 20 students to RSVP here!
On Wednesday, February 27th, join us for a screening of the film, If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by the Academy Award-winning director of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins. The film is based on the James Baldwin novel of the same name. A film summary is included below.
The screening will take place in the Student Center MPRs at 6 p.m. A brief “Middleground” activity will take place directly before the screening at 5:30 p.m.
The following day, Thursday, February 28th, you are invited to a discussion of the James Baldwin novel, If Beale Street Could Talk, facilitated by Clarkson Libraries. Attendees are invited to bring a lunch and the first 20 students to RSVP here will receive a free lunch!
These events are sponsored by CUPO, CUB, OSL, and Clarkson Libraries.
Movie Summary:
Set in early-1970s Harlem, If Beale Street Could Talk is a timeless and moving love story of both a couple’s unbreakable bond and the African-American family’s empowering embrace, as told through the eyes of 19-year-old Tish Rivers (screen newcomer KiKi Layne). A daughter and wife-to-be, Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny (Stephan James). Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit. Through the unique intimacy and power of cinema, If Beale Street Could Talk honors the author’s prescient words and imagery, charting the emotional currents navigated in an unforgiving and racially biased world as the filmmaker poetically crosses time frames to show how love and humanity endure.
