PrOgRaMmiNg
& EVeNTs

Scroll Down
↓

Lift Every Voice public programs engage participants in a multifaceted exploration of African American poetry, the perspectives it offers on American history and the struggle for racial justice, and the universality of its imaginative response to the personal experiences of Black Americans over three centuries.
The Initiative Features: ‍
・ Signature events with Kevin Young and an acclaimed poets and performers in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, and Los Angeles
・ Regional programming in 49 public libraries nationwide
sIGnAtUre EvEnTs:
Lift Every Voice: New York City
September 17, 2020
Watch
Lift Every Voice: Atlanta
October 22, 2020
Watch
Lift Every Voice: Chicago
November 12, 2020
Watch
August 27, 2020

Willie Perdomo Reads “Bembé-Faced” and “Arroz con Son y Clave”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
April 29, 2021

The Healing Power of Poetry, in and as African American Theater

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
February 25, 2021

“When Poems Call and Poems Respond,” with Douglas Kearney

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
April 21, 2021

The Enduring Power of Langston Hughes

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
April 20, 2021

Sisters in Struggle and Song

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
November 12, 2020

Avery R. Young: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
November 12, 2020

Billy Branch Reads “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
January 28, 2021

Amanda Gorman: “Old Jim Crow Got to Go” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
February 23, 2021

Tyehimba Jess on “Olio” (One Book One Bronx)

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
February 21, 2021

Sha'Condria “iCon” Sibley at the Pass It On Fest

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
February 22, 2021

Kalamu Ya Salaam at the Pass It On Fest

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
July 15, 2020

Danielle Legros Georges Reads Her Poem “Hostage”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
January 16, 2021

Black Experience in History and Memory

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 16, 2020

A Café of Poetry Readings (University of Wyoming)

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
January 28, 2021

Lift Every Voice: Los Angeles

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
July 28, 2020

Jericho Brown Reads “The Tradition”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 2, 2020

Alison C. Rollins Reads “Why Is We Americans”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
June 2, 2020

Jaki Shelton Green: “Oh My Brother”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 17, 2020

Danez Smith Reads “my president”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 17, 2020

Jessica Care Moore Reads “I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies” by June Jordan

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 17, 2020

Tyehimba Jess Reads “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 17, 2020

Sonia Sanchez Reads “Father Son and Holy Ghost” by Audre Lorde

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 17, 2020

Danez Smith Reads “Heartbeats” by Melvin Dixon

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 17, 2020

Toi Derricotte Reads “Frederick Douglass” by Robert Hayden

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
August 4, 2020

Gary Jackson Reads “Kansas”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
December 1, 2020

Tracy K. Smith and Kevin Young: The African American Poetic Tradition

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 4, 2020

Rita Dove Reads “The Wardrobe Lesson”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 4, 2020

Rita Dove Reads “Hattie McDaniel Arrives at the Coconut Grove”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 2, 2020

Anis Mojgani: “Closer”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 22, 2020

A Reading with Afaa Michael Weaver

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 14, 2020

Eve L. Ewing: “I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
August 13, 2020

Toi Derricotte: “Black Boys Play the Classics”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 1, 2020

Ishion Hutchinson: “After the Hurricane”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 4, 2020

Rachel Eliza Griffiths: “Seeing the Body”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
November 12, 2020

Lift Every Voice: Chicago

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 22, 2020

Lift Every Voice: Atlanta

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 18, 2020

Jamila Woods: “SULA (Hardcover)”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 16, 2018

Jamila Woods: “GIOVANNI”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
April 9, 2019

Cave Canem/New School Reading with Alison C. Rollins

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
January 20, 2020

Alison C. Rollins at the High Low Literary Cafe, St. Louis

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 6, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads Her Poem “Praise Song for the Day” (Then and Now)

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 5, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads Rita Dove’s “Adolescence—II”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 5, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads from Robert Hayden’s “[American Journal]”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 2, 2020

Kevin Young on “Ma Rainey” by Sterling A. Brown

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 2, 2020

Kevin Young Reads “Ma Rainey”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 1, 2020

Kevin Young Discusses “won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 1, 2020

Sterling A. Brown Reads “Ma Rainey”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 1, 2020

Kevin Young Reads “won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 1, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads Her Poem “Race”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 30, 2020

Kevin Young Discusses “Dear John, Dear Coltrane” by Michael S. Harper

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 30, 2020

Kevin Young Discusses “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 30, 2020

Kevin Young Reads “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 29, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads Her Poem “Nineteen”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 28, 2020

Mahershala Ali: Our Own Way of Seeing the World

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 28, 2020

Kevin Young Reads “Dear John, Dear Coltrane” by Michael S. Harper

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 23, 2020

Kevin Young Comments on “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 23, 2020

Kevin Young Reads “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 22, 2020

Kevin Young Discusses His Poem “Money Road”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 22, 2020

Kevin Young Reads “Money Road”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 22, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Comments on “The Black Back-Ups” by Kate Rushin

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 22, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads “The Black Back-Ups” by Kate Rushin

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 21, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander: “I Send Them to Anthologies”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 21, 2020

Phylicia Rashad Reads “The Slave Mother”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 17, 2020

Lift Every Voice: New York City

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 19, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Discusses “The Second Sermon on the Warpland” by Gwendolyn Brooks

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 19, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads “The Second Sermon on the Warpland” by Gwendolyn Brooks

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 19, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Comments on “Nikki-Rosa” by Nikki Giovanni

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 19, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Reads “Nikki-Rosa” by Nikki Giovanni

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 19, 2020

Kevin Young Discusses “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 19, 2020

Kevin Young Reads “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 19, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Comments on “We Wear the Mask”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 18, 2020

Kevin Young Discusses “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 18, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander and Kevin Young Read “We Wear the Mask”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
May 21, 2015

Aja Monet: “#sayhername”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 4, 2020

Elizabeth Alexander Discusses “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 3, 2020

Mahershala Ali Discusses Gwendolyn Brooks’s “Malcolm X”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 3, 2020

Phylicia Rashad Recites “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 3, 2020

Mahershala Ali Reads Gwendolyn Brooks's poem “Malcolm X”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 3, 2020

Kevin Young Introduces Lift Every Voice

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
May 2, 2018

Between the Lines: “Brown” by Kevin Young, with Claudia Rankine

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 18, 2019

Jacqueline Woodson: “Tobacco”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
June 22, 2010

Derek Walcott: The Perpetual Ideal Is Astonishment

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
January 30, 2018

Live from the Archive: Quincy Troupe

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
November 8, 2018

Natasha Trethewey: “Imperatives for Carrying on in the Aftermath”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
April 30, 2019

Oratorio: I Will Tell You the Truth About This, I Will Tell You All About It

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
April 19, 2019

In Conversation: Dr. Carla Hayden and Tracy K. Smith

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
March 31, 2016

Tracy K. Smith: “The Universe is a House Party”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
October 15, 2014

Talks at the Schomburg: Ntozake Shange

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
December 18, 2017

Nicole Sealey Poetry Reading at JMU

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 16, 2019

Nicole Sealey: “Object Permanence”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
June 29, 2019

In Conversation with Sonia Sanchez

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
December 8, 2015

Claudia Rankine Reads from “Citizen”

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
December 10, 2018

Morgan Parker and Danez Smith

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
March 23, 2017

Furious Flower Presents Gregory Pardlo

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
September 18, 2018

The Startling Life of Pauli Murray

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
April 2, 2014

Dawn Lundy Martin at Furious Flower

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
February 13, 2018

The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
June 23, 2017

Facing It: The Poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
December 10, 2018

The Tenth Muse with Tyehimba Jess

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →
February 26, 2015

Arnold Rampersad and David Roessel on Langston Hughes

This is some text inside of a div block.
This is some text inside of a div block.
Watch →

Featured Events:

No items found.

View by State:

AL
AR
CA
DE
FL
GA
IA
IL
IN
LA
MD
MI
MO
NC
NJ
NY
PA
SC
TX
VA
WA
WI
WY

⌯ View by State

DE
WI
MD
NC
CA
TX
WA
MI
NJ
AR
IN
FL
MO
WY
AL
NY
VA
IA
PA
GA
LA
IL
SC
Library of America
‍14 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022
(212) 308-3360  |  lifteveryvoice@loa.org
‍© 2020 Library of America. All rights reserved.  |  Lift Every Voice
Website design by Gage Hunt Creative