Authors, Activists, Artists Speak!
History is not only what we inherit. It is what we choose to remember, to record, and to pass forward.
For Black women, storytelling has always been an act of preservation and resistance—a way of holding onto truth when the official record refused to. From kitchens and classrooms to newspapers, novels, movements, and snctuaries, Black women have shaped the nation’s moral imagination, often without credit but never without courage.
On March 8, Unerased | Black Women Speak hosts a showcase – Authors, Activists, Artists Speak! Writing Our Story; Righting Our History. Convened on International Women’s Day and launching Women’s History Month on Sunday, March 8. The event will be held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC.
More than an event, the day will be a collective affirmation that Black women’s voices—past and present—are central to how we understand freedom, justice, culture, and possibility.
At a moment when history is being contested, censored, and rewritten, this gathering is grounding and urgent: a space to honor Black women as architects of American memory and to reflect on the responsibility of carrying that memory forward. Throughout the afternoon, authors, activists, artists, and readers and thought leaders will come together in conversation, performance, and reflection—centering storytelling not as nostalgia, but as power.
An opening conversation between journalist and author Tiffany D. Cross and Black Women’s Health Imperative President Joy D. Galloway will explore Cross’s new book, Love, Me – A Letter to Black Women in A Toxic Country, Career and Relationship.
A panel discussion will bring together Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes, Howard University Dean and author Dana A. Williams, Black Women’s Roundtable Convener Melanie L. Campbell, and interdisciplinary artist Nina Angela Mercer. Together, they will explore how storytelling shapes cultural memory, political power, and collective responsibility. What does it mean to write, organize, and create with intention in times of change.
The program will also include a series of “Lightning Talks” delivering short reflections, personal storytelling, and calls to action from a remarkable group of thinkers and writers. Biographer A’Lelia Bundles will reflect on the importance of preserving Black women’s histories with care and rigor. Novelist Diane McKinney-Whetstone will speak to the power of family and community. Memoirist Bernardine “Dine” Watson will share her personal narrative on the body as a gift. Economist and scholar Rhonda Sharpe will connect storytelling to data and economic justice.
Artistic expression will anchor the gathering as well, with a spoken word performance by poet Ariana Matondo, whose work reminds us that language lives not only on the page, but in breath, rhythm, and sound. Her performance will offer a moment of reflection and resonance amid the day’s conversations.
Beyond the stage, attendees are invited to engage with a range of interactive experiences designed to deepen connection and participation. The “In the Loop” Video Showcase will celebrate Black women’s herstory—then, now, and always—highlighting the continuity of voice across generations. A Freedom & Resistance Exhibition, inspired by 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones, challenges and reimagines “The Idea of America” through a visual experience created by young Washington, DC artists. This exhibit will be shown exclusively at the King Library through March 15.
A Bookshop Station will offer opportunities to purchase titles by participating authors, allowing attendees to support their work and continue engaging with the ideas shared throughout the afternoon. The Storytelling Station provides an intimate space to share brief personal reflections using guided prompts—marking this moment in history and affirming each participant’s voice as part of the historical record.
The afternoon will also include a tribute to trailblazer and storyteller Terry McMillan, honoring her enduring contributions to Black literature and cultural life, and recognizing the doors her work has opened for generations of writers and readers.
Authors, Activists, Artists Speak! Writing Our Story, Righting Our History is free and open to the public, because access to history—and the right to shape it—belongs to everyone.
Come listen. Come reflect. Come write our story—together.
