Author Talk: Two West Indians Walk into a Movement…

Visit West End Library for an Author Talk with local writer, producer and author, Norman Kelley! In this talk, Mr. Kelley will explore two Caribbean-born figures who became central to Black political life in the United States: Marcus Garvey and Harry Belafonte. Garvey built the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the largest early 20th century Black mass movement, while Belafonte later used his fame and resources to bolster Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the wider civil rights movement. The talk asks a rarely considered question: why did movements so reliant on Black music never develop music-based political organizations that could turn cultural power into lasting political and economic institutions? Exploring Garvey’s bands, choirs, Liberty Halls, and business ventures alongside Belafonte’s fundraising networks and ties to Hollywood and political power in Washington, the lecture considers what an organized musical infrastructure might have made possible—from UNIA-linked music schools, to a coordinated performance circuit, to a permanent organization built around the principle of “concerts by night, organizing workshops by day.” Kelley's claim is not that music alone could have overcome racism or internal conflict; instead, he examines how an existing cultural economy might have been converted into collective political capacity and durable Black institutions. About the Author: Norman Kelley is the author of The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome: The Dead End of Black Politics (Nation Books, 2004) and the editor of R&B (Rhythm and Business): The Political Economy of Black Music (Akashic Books, 2002). His fiction includes Black Heat, The Big Mango, and A Phat Death. He produced and directed the documentary How Washington Really Works: Charlie Peters and the Washington Monthly (2013), created the podcast series From Black Power to Black Trauma (2023), and has appeared on NPR’s Tavis Smiley and C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. Kelley was also featured in Paid in Full: The Battle for Black Music, a BBC/CBC documentary executive produced by Idris Elba. This lecture series draws from his research for his current project An Industry Beneath Their Feet: The Mismanagement and Exploitation of Black Music.