The NYU Center for Black Visual Culture brought Elizabeth Colomba and John Jennings together for a discussion about the expression of Black stories through art! Celebrating the launch of Colomba’s first graphic novel, Queenie: Godmother of Harlem, the two artist-scholars reflect upon uplifting Black women’s stories via their engaging and beautiful graphic novels. Presented live at 20 Cooper Square in NYC and virtually via livestream, this engaging discussion covers the iconography of graphic novels, the production and research involved in creating the books, the visual culture of race, and more.

Our two guests amplify the strength of Black women through narrative in their artistic and written work. Artist Elizabeth Colomba created the graphic novel that follows the story of Stephanie St. Clair, aka Queenie, who became the only Black woman to head up the numbers game in Harlem in the 1930s. Queenie was known for rising up through poverty and battling extreme racism and police corruption to become the ruthless queen of Harlem’s mafia and a fierce defender of the Black community. John Jennings is a professor, author, graphic novelist, curator, Harvard Fellow, New York Times Bestseller, 2018 Eisner Winner, and 2021 winner of the Hugo Award for his work on the Parable of the Sower graphic novel adaptation with creative partner Damian Duffy.

This event is presented by the Center for Black Visual Culture at New York University. It is co-sponsored by the 370J Project and the Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Date:  Monday, February 27, 2023

Time:  Reception at 6:00pm; Discussion and Q&A from 6:30-7:30pm; Book Signing from 7:30-8:00pm (all in ET)

Location: 4th Floor Flex Space, 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY // Virtual