“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” —James Baldwin
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In 2024, the Civil Writes Project was generously supported by:
Just Buffalo Literary Center’s Civil Writes Project is a large-scale community engagement project that began in 2017 with a series of interconnected literary arts programs culminating in Toni Morrison’s appearance at Just Buffalo’s BABEL series exactly fifty years to the day after Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic speech on the same stage at Kleinhans Music Hall. Previous BABEL / CIVIL WRITES PROJECT presentations have featured Jesmyn Ward, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Colson Whitehead, and Isabel Wilkerson.
Buffalo continues to be at a pivotal moment in its history—benefiting from an exciting renaissance even as the city grapples with persistent racial disparities. As the Civil Writes Project continues, our hope is to see even more engagement throughout WNY and beyond by opening conversations, encouraging reading and writing, and inviting widespread community participation around BABEL visits from the world’s foremost Black & African American writers.
Here are a couple of ways that you can get involved.
Plan an event and apply for up to $2,500 to help make it happen!
Do you have an upcoming event that aligns with the Civil Writes Project? Add it to the calendar!
One of the simplest but most meaningful ways to support The Civil Writes Project and Just Buffalo’s mission is to make an online donation in whatever amount is convenient for you—one-time, monthly, or yearly. Give in honor or in memory of someone special, and we’ll send an acknowledgement.
Check out these additional resources to learn more.
This ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
One of the nation’s premier heritage and cultural museums celebrated #MLK50 in 2018, continuing their mission to share the culture and lessons from the American Civil Rights Movement.
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s critically acclaimed article, published in The Atlantic in 2014.
Stay up-to-date on the latest news about The Civil Writes Project.
Take a look at our rich event history to date.
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