Through rich cultural history and immersiv e storytelling\, Colbert reveals how Maya Angelou\, Lorraine Hansberry\, A bbey Lincoln\, Miriam Makeba\, and Nina Simone forged artistic brilliance and political resolve in an underground New York nightclub that became a b eacon for Black liberation.
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Discover the friendships\, perfo
rmances\, and radical imagination that reshaped American art and activism.
For reasonable accommodations\, please contact the Center for Accessibility at 202-727-2142 or DCPLaccess@dc.gov. For ASL or tactil e interpretation\, please allow at least seven (7) days notice.\n
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\n< img src="https://static.libnet.info/frontend-images/editor/dclibrary/58031 _colbertsoyica_crodgericolbert.jpg" width="300" height="225" alt="" style= "float: left\; margin: 0px 20px 20px 0px\;" />Soyica Diggs Colbert is the Idol Family Professor at Georgetown University and a winn er of the Guggenheim Fellowship. Author of the award-winning Radical Visio n: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry\, she has written for the New York Ti mes and Washington Post. \; \;
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\nDana A. Williams is professor of Africa
n American literature and dean of the Graduate School at Howard University
. Her latest book is \;Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary E
ditorship \;(Harper/Amistad 2025).
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\nAn illuminating portrait of five Black woman artists and the New York nightclub that helped inspire the civil rights movement.
\nBefore they were household names\, Maya Angelou\, Lorraine Ha nsberry\, Abbey Lincoln\, Miriam Makeba\, and Nina Simone needed a place t o practice and perform. That place was the Village Gate\, a New York City nightclub that Art D&rsquo\;Lugoff opened at the dawn of an unprecedented decade in civil rights. In the heart of the West Village\, the women of th e Gate created something that few could have imagined: a downtown hotspot for Black art\, culture\, music\, and politics.
\nFreedom&rsquo\ ;s Gate depicts the groundbreaking artistry and deepening political c onvictions of the women of the Gate as they developed in the spotlight of art and revolution. From Lorraine Hansberry&rsquo\;s A Raisin in the S un to Nina Simone&rsquo\;s "Mississippi Goddam" and Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach&rsquo\;s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite\, Soyica Diggs C olbert brings to life the culture and performances that were the soundtrac k to Black freedom struggles in the 1950s and 1960s. Colbert also shows ho w the women of the Gate raised money and awareness for groups at the vangu ard of civil rights\, brought the call for African independence home to Ne w York City\, and interwove Western and black diasporic influences into Am erican popular performance\, with supporting roles from stars and activist s such as Harry Belafonte\, Stokely Carmichael\, and Sidney Poitier.
\nAs the women relied on one another as entertainers\, activists\, intell ectuals\, and friends\, the Gate became an outpost for freedom struggles o utside of Harlem and the American South\, a haven that did not abide by th e norms of segregation or the expectations of "women&rsquo\;s work\," and a world-renowned venue defined by its radical musicians\, artists\, and bu dding stars. Freedom&rsquo\;s Gate is a vibrant history of a litt le-known chapter of the civil rights movement that gave voice and soul to the call for liberation.
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