As Outsiders, Outcasts, Rebels, and Weirdos: Punk Culture 1976–86 comes to a close, we invite you to honor the enduring legacy of punk's trailblazers while looking toward its vibrant future.

The Skirball is thrilled to welcome acclaimed novelist and filmmaker James Spooner for a special event celebrating the release of his new book, It Starts With Anger: A Punk Beginning. An AFROPUNK Ending., featuring a conversation with special guest Henry Rollins.

The afternoon begins with a screening of Spooner's award-winning documentary, Afro-Punk, followed by a discussion between Spooner and Henry Rollins, former Black Flag frontman, writer, and activist—exploring punk's cultural impact, its ongoing evolution, and the communities it continues to inspire.

Directed by James Spooner (2003, 75 min., Not Rated)

Hang out with us after the conversation for book signings and a DJ set by Cocteau Twins bassist Simon Raymonde.

James Spooner is an award winning graphic novelist, filmmaker, and tattoo artist. His debut graphic novel, The High Desert was named “Best of 2022” by Publishers Weekly, The Washington Post and The New York Public Library. The High Desert is the 2023 recipient of the American Library Association's Alex Award and the Cartoonist Studio Prize. Spooner co-edited an anthology of Black punk writers and comic creators entitled Black Punk Now. Available now, the book was named in the Top 10 Music Books of 2023 by Pitchfork, Top 5 Music Books from The Guardian, and received a Kirkus star. Pantheon has acquired his forthcoming book It Starts With Anger, set for publication in August of 2026. He was recently commissioned to adapt a story by the Scottish Book Trust and is regular contributor to RazorCake Magazine.

Spooner directed the seminal documentary Afro-Punk, which premiered at national and international film festivals, including Toronto International and The American Black Film Festival. James also co-founded the AfroPunk Festival, which currently boasts audiences in the hundreds of thousands around the world.

​Spooner’s work has been recounted in various publications, including NPR, Los Angeles Times, Vice, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, MTV, NBC News, and Variety. He was a recipient of the ReNew Media Rockefeller Grant. He is a guest curator for the Broad Museum in Los Angeles and the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas and previously programmed for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Describing Henry Rollins often involves trying to fit as many labels as possible into a single sentence. As The Washington Post puts it, “Rollins is many things: diatribist, confessor, provocateur, humorist, even motivational speaker… his is an enthusiastic and engaging chatter.” Entertainment Weekly includes him in their list as a “Punk Rock icon, spoken word poet, actor, author, DJ. Is there anything this guy can’t do?” TV Guide more succinctly calls him a “Renaissance Man.” However, if Henry Rollins could be reduced to a single word, that word would undoubtedly be “workaholic.” When not traveling, Rollins maintains a relentless schedule filled with work, taking on roles as an actor, author, DJ, voice-over artist, and TV show host, to name just a few.

Rollins has toured the world as a spoken word artist, frontman for Black Flag and Rollins Band, and as a solitary traveler with an insatiable curiosity. He favors off-the-beaten-path destinations in places such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Siberia, North Korea, South Sudan, and Iran. Rollins received the prestigious Ray Bradbury Creativity Award in recognition of his lifelong contributions to the arts, his passion for social activism, and his advocacy for the importance of maintaining books and libraries.