Just Buffalo Literary Center today announced the nine artists, organizations and community groups receiving a total of  $15,000 to support events aligned with Just Buffalo’s Civil Writes Project, a community engagement project that celebrates Black writers and seeks pathways toward justice in the power of the literary arts.

 

The recipients are:

 

The 2021 Civil Writes Project centers on Just Buffalo’s virtual BABEL presentation with bestselling author Ta-Nehisi Coates on April 22, 2021.

 

Other upcoming Civil Writes Project programming includes a virtual tour on April 10 and a writing workshop on April 17 in collaboration with the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center; a virtual comic book discussion with the Wakanda Alliance on April 10; a sidewalk chalk installation by artist LaShonda Davis; and Water in the Desert, a collaborative youth project with Ujima Company and Squeaky Wheel. In addition, hundreds of copies of “The Water Dancer,” Ta-Nehisi Coates’s bestselling novel, are being distributed throughout the community.

 

Just Buffalo’s Civil Writes Project began in 2017 with a series of interconnected literary arts programs culminating in Toni Morrison’s appearance at the organization’s BABEL series, fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic speech on the same stage at Kleinhans Music Hall.

 

Civil Writes Project programming is ongoing through June. To learn more, see the full calendar of upcoming Civil Writes Project events and get involved, visit justbuffalo.org.

 

About Just Buffalo Literary Center

Just Buffalo Literary Center’s mission is to create and strengthen communities through the literary arts. For over 45 years, the organization has brought the world’s greatest writers to Buffalo, hosted poetry events and readings, and supported the development of young writers. For more information, visit justbuffalo.org.