A Century of Black Progress

Featuring the most ambitious programming to date, this year’s landmark Spotlight Reading Series is organized around the theme “A Century of Black Progress” and marks a decade of this acclaimed and transformative program. This 10th-anniversary celebration arrives on the heels of the centennial of Black History Month, which began in 1926 as Negro History Week, and looks ahead to the conclusion of August Wilson’s American Century Cycle with Court Theatre’s 2027 production of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

By weaving together the past, present, and future of Black storytelling through a series of immersive events, the Spotlight Reading Series celebrates the soul of Chicago’s cultural ecosystem and pays tribute to one hundred years of cultural excellence and resilience. All events are free and open to the public, and reservations are recommended. 

• Friday, August 7: It’s Nation Time: An Evening of Black Cinema – SOLD OUT
• Sunday, August 9: Kuumba Theatre Archive Unfurling – SOLD OUT
• Wednesday, August 12: How I Learned What I Learned by August Wilson, featuring Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson – SOLD OUT
• Thursday, August 13: A Womanist Trilogy: Hurston, Richards, and Kennedy – SOLD OUT
• Friday, August 14: are you ready to smash white things? by Ireon Roach, a collaboration with Definition Theatre
• Saturday, August 15: Praise and Protest Exhibition Tour – SOLD OUT
• Saturday, August 15: Harsh Readers Circle – SOLD OUT
• Wednesday, August 19: Blackstone Book Club
• Saturday, August 22: Chicago Critics Circles

Artwork by Brandon Breaux.

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