With over 36 years of experience as a theater critic for the New York Amsterdam News, Linda Armstrong has channeled her passion for the stage to champion the stars and emerging talent of Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. Armstrong has garnered much respect and recognition for her strong commitment to highlighting the work of Black theater companies. For the past 20 years, Armstrong has penned the feature “Blacks on Broadway” for Harlem News, giving much-needed attention and coverage to actors, playwrights and producers of color. Through participation on theater industry panels, serving as a member of Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle and the American Theatre Critic Association, Armstrong has made significant strides in increasing representation in the theater community. In 2015, Armstrong was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the AUDELCO, an organization that acknowledges and honors Black theater and its artists in New York City. In this special public program, Armstrong will speak on her prolific career in an interview with award-winning author, journalist and professor of African American history and culture at City College of New York, Herb Boyd.
Herb Boyd is an award winning author and journalist who has published a number of books and countless articles for national magazines and newspapers. His most recent publication is “Black Detroit—A People’s History of Self-Determination” (Amistad Press, 2017). “Brotherman—The Odyssey of Black Men in America—An Anthology” (OneWorld/Ballantine, 1995), co-edited with Robert Allen of the Black Scholar journal, won the American Book Award for nonfiction. Boyd is a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit where he taught for 12 years. Currently, he teaches African American history and culture at the City College of New York in Harlem where he lives.