Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading

10/25/2026

Join us for a special evening at the Jamestown Arts Center on Thursday, October 29, for a screening of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM!

Stay after the film for a thoughtful discussion with April H. Brown and S. Kai Cameron, Co-Directors of the Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading.

📅 Thursday, 10/29
🥂 Pre-film reception: 6:00 PM
🎞️ Film screening: 7:00 PM

Come experience the film, connect through conversation, and share in an evening of art, culture, and community. We can’t wait to see you there!

10/20/2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DePuM4oSiga/?mdxt=MXV1cWl6aXk1cGhseQ==

10/03/2026

FYI,

Hello community leaders!

RI Humanities launches 2027 RI Civic Health Index Initiative

As a nationally recognized leader in connecting civic health and the humanities in ways that help communities understand, connect, and grow, Rhode Island Humanities is proud to launch the 2027 Rhode Island Civic Health Index initiative. With publication planned for Summer 2027, this Index will provide a data-driven portrait of Rhode Island’s civic health, comprising community well-being and community participation. A unique opportunity to be part of this effort is available through the paid Community Partner role; see details and a link to the application form below.
Created in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship and the Rhode Island Department of State, the report will analyze data from local and national contexts to identify the state’s strengths and challenges and to inform community priorities. We will develop the Index together with 12 compensated Community Partners and a broad coalition of organizational and academic partners. Following publication, RI Humanities will coordinate a multifaceted, partner-driven effort centered on organic community engagement to connect Rhode Islanders with the Index’s findings.
This initiative builds on the award-winning 2022 Rhode Island Civic Health Index, co-authored by RI Humanities.
The Civic Health Index initiative is designed to move beyond research and reporting. RI Humanities and our partners use our findings to foster dialogue, strengthen connections, support cultural and civic organizations, and identify opportunities for civic renewal. Through community conversations, public programs, exhibits, presentations, and partnerships, the Index creates opportunities for Rhode Islanders to consider both the strengths of their civic life and the challenges that need attention. As such, the Index is not simply a written snapshot but also a living project that helps to realize the changes it calls for.

Paid Community Partner Opportunity
Rhode Island Humanities seeks 12 Community Partners to participate in the development of and community engagement with the 2027 Rhode Island Civic Health Index . From November 2026 through July 2027, Community Partners will help to shape the development of the 2027 Rhode Island Civic Health Index based on their own experiences and insights into their communities. From August through December 2027, each partner will design, organize, and host a community event engaging their communities with the findings of the Index.

Each Community Partner will receive a stipend of $1,250 for their contributions to the project. Additional funds will be available for expenses related to Community Partner-hosted events.

Click here for more information and eligibility requirements.

If you are interested in being selected for this unique opportunity, fill out the Community Partner Application form by 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
Applications will be reviewed by staff, and notifications will be made by November 4, 2026.

Questions? Contact [email protected] and staff will reply as quickly as possible.

08/27/2026

Dear Beautiful Humans,

As the co-director of the Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading (LHCPR) we are excited to invite you to the upcoming performances of "Soul Value," a play that Jessica T. Pearson and I have been developing over the past two years. This project has truly been a labor of love, curiosity, sorrow, and joy.

LHCPR was a co-producer of this effort and we were funded in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Semiquincentennial Commission (RI250).
As we close out our grant, we want to share this iteration of the piece with as many people as possible.

The performances are free to attend, but registration is required to guarantee a seat. If you are out of town, a virtual option is available for the URI performance.

You can find more information and register through the links below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soul-value-at-slater-mill-tickets-1996307158450

https://web.uri.edu/humanities/soul-value/

Thank you again for your support!

Artwork designed by Foster Hazziez.

06/21/2026

It has been a phenomenal Juneteenth! Thank you Newport Historical Society and Trinity Repertory Company.

04/06/2026

Please join April for this conversation! us......https://symposiumbooks.com/event/2026-04-10/author-event-beronda-montgomerys-when-trees-testify

Independent Bookstore. Shop Local Shop Small. Westminster St, Downtown Providence, Rhode Island. New Books, Used Books, Bargain Books.

04/03/2026

Please send all of your Social Studies teachers our way!!!!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ri-250-professional-development-social-studies-and-poetry-tickets-1986311799061

03/24/2026

LHCPR is celebrating National Poetry Month!

ANNOUCING ACT'S 2026 PELL LECTURE ON THE ARTS & HUMANITIES

We are thrilled to announce our 2026 Pell Lecture on the Arts & Humanities. Join us for our annual Pell Lecture: The Artist and the Revolution, as we underscore the need for all of us to participate in changemaking spaces. National Book Award longlisted poet, writer and former political strategist Camonghne Felix, author of Let The Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom (2026) will center our conversation with a keynote lecture interrogating how poetics and its politics can serve as utilities for resistance, strategy, and survival, followed by dialogue with April Brown, co-director of the Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading.

In addition to Camonghne Felix, the evening will feature poetry engagements by Sussy Santana and Justice Ameer; drumming by Yoruba 2; and community reflections from City of Providence Chief of Staff Emily Ward Crowell, youth leaders from the Providence Student Union, and Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading co-director Kai Cameron.

Whether you are an organizer, civil servant, artist, creative, government leader, educator, disruptor, diplomat, or have yet to find your path in shaping our world, we hope you join us for this galvanizing one-night event.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Semiquincentennial Commission (RI250).

This event is made possible through partnerships with local businesses Symposium Books and Suya Joint. Camonghne Felix's Let The Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom will be available to purchase through Symposium Books at this event.

The 2026 Pell Lecture on the Arts & Humanities will be held Wednesday, April 22, 2026 from 5:30-8:30 PM at The Pavilion at Grace, 300 Westminster Street, Providence, RI.

Register for this year's Pell Lecture here;

03/01/2026

Dear Miss Millie, Ayana, Hadley, Solmaz, D. Cameron, Shawn, Shanice, Rebecca, Melanie, Rosalynde, Robert, Deborah, Michelle, Anne, Susan, Rebecca, Kevin, Donovon, Renee, Rebecca, Janice, Dallas, Carla, the RI Black Storytellers, Jean, Claire, Claire, Val, Ari, Manny, Choclt, Devra, and Trey—

As we close out Black History Month, we do so with full hearts because of how you showed up.

The 31st Annual Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading was more than an event. It was a gathering of memory, music, truth, and love. It was a reminder that when community shows up together, history breathes and hope speaks. None of it would have been possible without your generosity, your faith in the work, and your willingness to stand with us.

Your support was not simply financial or logistical—it was spiritual. It was solidarity. It was a declaration that the stories, voices, and creative brilliance of our community matter.

We want to especially lift up Ms. Claudeline Chery, Associate Director of the Center for Community Partnerships. Claudeline, your unyielding support, your generous spirit, and your deep commitment carried us through. Simply put, without you, this year’s event would not have happened. Your belief in this work is a gift, and we are profoundly grateful.

To every donor and every member of our production team—your dedication, your behind-the-scenes labor, your encouragement, and your trust made this celebration possible. You helped create a space where poetry could rise, where elders and youth could share the same air, and where Black history was honored not just as remembrance, but as living presence.

Please know this: we love you. We appreciate you. We value your solidarity more than words can fully express.

Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for believing in this vision. Thank you for helping us keep the flame alive.

With deep love and gratitude,

The LHCPR Committee

01/27/2026

Rhythm as Resistance.

Langston Hughes believed art should reflect real people, not polished versions meant to comfort power. He structured poems around music, just as modern artists build protest lyrics around beats. He rejected “proper” language, and pushed art from private pages into public spaces.

That same approach lives on in modern protest art, where storytelling, cadence, and message ride the beat. From jazz clubs to cyphers, poetry readings to protest stages, Hughes didn’t just inspire protest art, he helped shape its language. Langston Hughes’s influence still echoes wherever art speaks truth to power.