About Us
Our signature programs include The James Baldwin Freedom School, which is a public “university-without-walls” that offers year-round free public seminars, anti-racist trainings, and community-learning courses related to black racial justice activism. Our grassroots organizing campaign entitled Black Lives Matter Syllabus is part of this Freedom School initiative. We are also the home of Giovanni’s Room, a monthly salon series/book club that brings together contemporary authors/thinkers/artists whose work embodies the spirit and legacy of James Baldwin. The Baldwin Hansberry Project is also the home of the Harlem Social Justice Tour, a guided walking tour that introduces everyday people to Harlem’s rich historical legacy as a landmark of black culture and activism. In addition to these specific programs, The Baldwin Project is always involved in advocacy work and direct-action on behalf of black people in Harlem—and all throughout the world.
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About The Founder
Frank Leon Roberts is an activist, professor, and political organizer on the frontlines of racial justice activism in the United States. He received his B.A, M.A, and Ph.D. from NYU where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on James Baldwin. The proud son of two formerly incarcerated parents, he is currently on the faculty at New York University, where his course on the black lives matter movement has been widely acknowledged as the first college course of its kind.
Frank’s career as a grassroots political organizer has spanned two decades. He began his career as a teenager; mobilizing disenfranchised voters in the wake of the 2000 Bush/Gore Election. Later, in 2004 Frank co-founded the National Black Justice Coalition (based in Washington, DC) which is now the largest civil rights organization in the country focused specifically on black LGBT issues.
Frank is the author of the forthcoming book The Black Lives Matter Syllabus: Key Writings from the Movement for Black Lives to be published by the University of California Press in 2021 with a foreword by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza.
A New York City native, he lives in Harlem.
The Baldwin Hansberry Project is grateful for support from the following funders:
