hayti-heritage-center-150434

Moonchild: The Life and Music of Yusuf Salim - Durham Premiere

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:25:51 GMT

Moonchild: The Life and Music of Yusuf Salim - Durham Premiere

Thursday, April 30, 2026 | 7PM

Join us for a celebration of Brother Yusuf Salim and the Durham Premiere of the new documentary film, Moonchild: The Life and Music of Yusuf Salim. Moonchild celebrates Yusuf’s transformative impact on Durham’s jazz and cultural scene, and explores the deep community, musical, and spiritual connections between Brother Yusuf, Muslim visionary and activist Imam Kenneth Murray Muhammad, and Dr. Brian Horton and North Carolina Central University’s Jazz Studies community of teachers and students.

Proceeds from the event will support Hayti Heritage Center, now celebrating its 50th year and the Moonchild film project.

The Durham premiere of Moonchild is produced by Hayti Heritage Center, presented by The Groove Productions, Elevate Media Films and filmmakers Kenny Dalsheimer and Rafael Samanez and supported by Southern Documentary Fund and WNCU 90.7 FM.

Brandee Younger

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:27:44 GMT

Brandee Younger

Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 7 PM
Hayti Heritage Center

Harpist Brandee Younger is redefining what her instrument can do—and who it’s for. On Gadabout Season , her latest release for Impulse!, she plays Alice Coltrane’s own harp, offering a powerful tribute that’s as much about joy and self-discovery as sound. Deeply rooted in spiritual jazz, hip-hop, and classical tradition, Younger’s music is emotionally direct and rhythmically alive. Whether whispering or wailing, her playing defies cliché—birthing a genre-defying earth tones that AllMusic declares “could only be born in the 21st century.” A singularity exploring uncharted musical territory for a new generation of listeners.

Keith Knight Moderated by Mark Anthony Neal

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 12:10:48 GMT

Keith Knight

Moderated by Mark Anthony Neal

POSTPONED

Hayti Heritage Center

Keith Knight is an award-winning cartoonist, musician, and educator whose work has been lauded for its sharp wit, political insight, and ability to blend humor with hard truths. Best known for his comic strips The K Chronicles , (th)ink , and The Knight Life , Knight has spent decades using comics as a lens to examine race, class, identity, and the absurdities of everyday life.

His work has appeared in publications worldwide, including The Washington Post , San Francisco Chronicle , Daily Kos , and Mad Magazine . In 2020, his life and work inspired the critically acclaimed Hulu series Woke , which introduced his distinctive voice to an even wider audience.

In addition to cartooning, Knight tours internationally as a public speaker and performer, using comics, storytelling, and humor to spark conversations about social justice and cultural awareness. He has received numerous accolades, including recognition from the NAACP, the Glyph Awards, and the Harvey Awards.

Blending the personal with the political, Keith Knight continues to prove that comics are more than entertainment—they are a powerful tool for reflection, resistance, and change.

Branford Marsalis Quartet

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 13:27:44 GMT

Branford Marsalis Quartet

tuesday, February 24, 2026, 7 PM

Hayti Heritage Center

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, GRAMMY Award winner, and Tony and Emmy Award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead, but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet.

After more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes, this celebrated ensemble is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics.

After receiving Grammy nominations on its last two albums, Upward Spiral and The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul , the Quartet made its Blue Note Records debut with the release of Belonging , a full album interpretation of Keith Jarrett's 1974 ECM album of the same name. The New York Times commented: “Marsalis has tackled imposing jazz masterworks before...but at its best, his Belonging goes deeper...it’s a performance that both honors and amplifies.”

John Zeugner captured the impact of the Quartet in a review of a live performance, calling it “casually confident, professional, cerebral, and supercharged with energy. The Branford Marsalis Quartet...was all of those adjectives and more.”

Hayti Heritage Film Festival

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:41:42 GMT

Hayti Heritage Film Festival

Wednesday, March 4-7, 2026, 7 PM
Hayti Heritage Center,

For over a decade, the Hayti Heritage Film Festival (HHFF) has showcased Southern Black cinema—centering stories that challenge, affirm, and expand cultural narratives. This year’s expanded program commits more deeply to HHFF’s mission to serve as a teaching festival designed to educate, inspire, and uplift the next generation of southern storytellers. With post-screening discussions, artist talks, and tributes, the festival weaves themes of memory, migration, and Black futurism into an unmissable experience for cinephiles and changemakers alike.

Hayti Dialogues: A Conversation with Melissa Harris-Perry

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 12:45:57 GMT

Hayti Dialogues:

A Conversation with Melissa Harris-Perry

Saturday, March 21, 2026, 7 PM

Hayti Heritage Center

Professor Melissa Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University. She is the author of the award-winning Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk, Black Political Thought , and Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America . Professor Harris-Perry is founder and president of the Anna Julia Cooper Center, whose mission is to advance justice through intersectional scholarship and action.

She served as the final host and managing editor of The Takeaway , a daily national public radio program and podcast that aired on more than 300 public radio stations across the country. From 2012 to 2016, she hosted the groundbreaking television show Melissa Harris-Perry on weekend mornings on MSNBC and was awarded the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism. She served as editor-at-large for Elle.com and continues to serve as contributing editor for The Nation .

Hayti Dialogues: In Conversation with Brit Bennett Reimagining Black Identity: The Interplay of Race, Place, and Power in the American South

Sat, 13 Sep 2025 13:12:18 GMT

Hayti Dialogues: In Conversation with Brit Bennett

Thursday, May 7, 2026, 6:30 PM

Hayti Heritage Center

Brit Bennett is the author of the dazzling coming of age novel The Mothers and the National Book Award nominated novel, The Vanishing Half . Already a much buzzed about social commentator, well-known for her powerful personal essays, Bennett is one of today's most exciting new voices in literary fiction. Her lectures are as compassionate and memorable as her writing and give audiences a window into her craft while exploring broader themes of race, familial legacy, and injustice in connection with her work.

At Hayti, Brit Bennett explores the intricate constructions of self-determined towns that forged their own destinies and the personal choices that define race, family, and legacy.

YahZarah

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 13:18:31 GMT

YahZarah

Thursday, June 4, 2026, 7 PM
Hayti Heritage Center

YahZarah is a fearless and genre-defying artist whose powerful voice and dynamic stage presence have made her one of the most celebrated figures in contemporary music. Honored at the Kennedy Center Honors: Beyond the Broadcast series, recognized at the Apollo Theater for her 25-year contribution to music, and awarded the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, her influence reaches far beyond the stage. Her acclaimed album The Ballad of Purple St. James received GRAMMY consideration in six categories, cementing her as a singular creative force.

Spanning rock & roll, jazz, R&B, gospel, funk, and cinematic soul, YahZarah creates music that is both futuristic and rooted in ancestral truth. She has toured and recorded with icons including Erykah Badu, Lenny Kravitz, Prince, Anderson .Paak, Bilal Oliver, Elvis Costello, Raheem DeVaughn, the Roots, and the Foreign Exchange. Her song “Running” was handpicked by Spike Lee for his Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It . Most recently, YahZarah produced and scored music for Hulu’s Washington Black , starring Sterling K. Brown.

Whether performing with symphonies, creating in the studio, or scoring for film and television, YahZarah is the rare artist who doesn’t just step onto the stage—she transforms it.

Monét Noelle Marshall

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 13:28:42 GMT

Monét Noelle Marshall

Friday, June 19, 2026, 7 PM

Hayti Heritage Center, $25–50

Durham-based multidisciplinary artist Monét Noelle Marshall has been creating worlds and gracing stages since 1999. A theatre kid at heart, Monèt deems her work “rehearsal for the relationship” and uses a multidisciplinary approach to invite people into a deeper sense of belonging—with themselves, each other, and the planet. Through short films that affirm and challenge, community pop-ups that center joy, and interactive, immersive performance pieces that shift audiences to witnesses, Monèt’s work stretches the bounds of how art can create, shape, and impact community.

Her work has been featured at St. Ann’s Warehouse, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Northstar Church of the Arts, and Mordecai Historic Park. Most recently, she has collaborated with the African American Policy Forum on Gucci’s Chime for Change zine, Scalawag m agazine, the NC Museum of Art, Historic Stagville, the City of Raleigh, and Columbia University. She has received funding from the NC Arts Council, the Durham Arts Council, Black Spatial Relics, the Black on Black Project, and Manbites Dog Theater. Her play Raisonneur was produced by Wayne State University in 2022, and she won the Del Shores Foundation competition for Best Screenplay for Knead , a screenplay she co-wrote.

Co-presentation with ADF

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 13:37:43 GMT

Co-presentation with ADF

Saturday, June 20, 2026

Reynolds Industries Theater

The American Dance Festival and Hayti Heritage Center join forces for a landmark co-presentation at Reynolds Industries Theater in June 2026. Complete details and ticketing information will be announced next spring.

Bakari Sellers

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 13:40:30 GMT

Hayti Dialogues: IN CONVERSATION WITH Bakari sellers

Friday, July 17, 2026, 7 PM
Hayti Heritage Center

CNN analyst, attorney, and bestselling author Bakari Sellers brings his sharp political insight and Southern sensibility to Durham. At just 22, he was elected to the South Carolina legislature—the youngest African American elected official in the nation at the time. Now a practicing attorney at Strom Law Firm, Sellers leads its strategic communications and public affairs efforts while continuing national advocacy through the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. His books My Vanishing Country and The Moment explore race, resilience, and democracy with clarity and urgency. This evening of conversation—followed by a book signing—offers timely analysis and an invitation to action.

Hayti Business Expo

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 13:46:00 GMT

HAYTI Business Expo

Thursday–Friday, August 6–7, 2026
Hayti Heritage Center

Our inaugural Hayti Business Expo offers a vital opportunity for entrepreneurs, patrons, and community partners to build powerful connections and foster collective economic growth. Experience a dynamic lineup of programming, including keynote addresses, interactive panels, live pitch sessions, immersive workshops, and a vibrant marketplace celebrating our region's most forward-looking businesses.

Hayti Dialogues: A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates Black Self-Sufficiency, Redlining, and the Battle for Memory

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 01:53:20 GMT

Hayti Dialogues: A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates

Black Self-Sufficiency, Redlining, and the Battle for Memory

Wednesday, August 19, 2026, 6:30 PM

Hayti Heritage Center

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning author and journalist. He is the author of the bestselling books The Beautiful Struggle , We Were Eight Years in Power , The Water Dancer , and Between the World and Me , which won the National Book Award in 2015. He was a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship that same year. As a journalist with a career spanning over two decades, he’s written for numerous publications including the Washington City Paper , The Village Voice , The New Yorker , and The New York Times . During his time reporting for The Atlantic between 2008-2018, he penned numerous articles and essays, including the National Magazine Award-winning 2012 essay “Fear of a Black President” and the influential June 2014 essay “The Case For Reparations.” Ta-Nehisi also enjoyed a successful run writing Marvel’s Black Panther (2016-2021) and Captain America (2018-2021) comics series. Ta-Nehisi is currently writing the screenplays for the upcoming films Wrong Answer , Superman and the film adaptation of his first fiction novel, The Water Dancer . In the fall of 2022, he joined Howard University’s faculty as a writer-in-residence and the Sterling Brown Chair in the Department of English.

At Hayti, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the long, often-erased history of Black self-sufficiency in America—from thriving communities like Durham’s Hayti and Tulsa’s Greenwood to the national policies that targeted, dismantled, and displaced them.

John Holiday

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 06:18:41 GMT

John Holiday

Thursday, October 1, 2026, 7 PM
Hayti Heritage Center

Acclaimed concert singer John Holiday has performed at world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London’s Barbican Center, and the Philharmonie de Paris. His career highlights include a tour with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Sorceress in Barrie Kosky’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas ; and the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice as Orpheus’s Double at the Los Angeles Opera. In addition to traditional concert performances and recitals, Holiday has curated The John Holiday Experience (JHE) to showcase his affinity and talent for many different genres, including classical, pop, jazz, and R&B.

Amaryn Olmeda

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 19:46:21 GMT

Amaryn Olmeda

Friday, November 6, 2026

Hayti Heritage Center

Winner of first prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 24th Annual Sphinx Competition, violinist Amaryn Olmeda is a rising star sought after for her bold and expressive performances as a soloist and collaborator. Violinist.com says of Olmeda, “...her commanding stage presence, infallible technique, and interpretive ability already rival that of international concert stage veterans.”

Highlights of 2025–2026 include debut performances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Tallahassee Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Williamsburg Symphony, and Shreveport Symphony, as well as return appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Des Moines Symphony, Stockton Symphony, and Auburn Symphony. Olmeda made her Lincoln Center solo debut on the 2024 Summer for the City series. Later that season, she returned for her solo debut at David Geffen Hall on the New York Philharmonic’s Kravis Nightcap series. She made her Carnegie Hall solo debut on the Sphinx Virtuosi tour at the age of fourteen, garnering rave reviews.

Recent highlights include debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra at their New Year’s Concert series, earning her a nomination for the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 2008, Amaryn Olmeda studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with Miriam Fried. She previously studied with Ian Swensen at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Olmeda performs on a violin made by J. B. Vuillaume in 1864.