The Afro-Punk documentary was the first film to ask Black punks about their lives. The conversation hasn’t ended since. Directed by James Spooner and released in 2003, the film follows Black punks and hardcore kids who existed at the margins of two worlds, invisible in mainstream Black culture and uncentered in the predominantly white alternative scenes they pioneered. Through intimate interviews, personal testimony and four protagonists whose lives anchor the film, the film asks a simple question with no simple answer: what does it mean to be Black and punk?

James Spooner came up in the punk underground. He made a documentary. That film became a festival, then a brand, then a global phenomenon — and he walked away.

Join us for a screening of Afro-Punk followed by a slideshow and talk from Spooner about the journey from punk kid to reluctant founder, as told in his new memoir It Starts with Anger. Book signing to follow.