Frederick Douglass’s lasting mark on American history and politics is undeniable. His work in advocating for the abolishment of slavery is well-known, yet post-Civil War his activism continued as he delivered more than 800 speeches, wrote all the time, and served in various government positions. Douglass was a strong supporter of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments and used his platform to push for these changes. Learn more about these amendments and the later life of Frederick Douglass in this virtual exhibit.
The politics of immigration are a hot button political issue, especially during an election cycle. In our exhibit My America, hear from more than 30 leading immigrant and refugee writers who talk about their experiences, carving community through writing, reimagining what “home” is, and more. Featuring powerful, intimate stories from the likes of Viet Thanh Nguyen, Reyna Grande, Edwidge Danticat, and more, learn how immigration policies have personally impacted writers of the past and present.
Pauli Murray was a poet, a lawyer, a priest, a freight hopper, arrested for refusing to comply with bus segregation laws, a closeted member of the LGBTQ+ community, a professor, and so much more. They called Eleanor Roosevelt a friend and inspired a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Their work has influenced Supreme Court decisions, the Civil Rights Movement, and countless others including our recent special exhibit Dark Testament: A Century of Black Writers on Justice.
Watch this vital conversation from the 2024 American Writers Festival with journalist Mark Bowden about writers and politics today. Bowden sits down with Natalie Y. Moore to discuss his book, co-written with Matthew Teague, The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It.
View more programs on the 2024 American Writers Festival playlist on our YouTube channel!
Throughout history, women writers have been at the forefront of political, societal, and cultural change. Check out these episodes below to learn more about these trailblazing women writers and stream all Nation of Writers episodes here.
“A self-described ‘Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,’ Audre Lorde dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.” She published many collections of poetry, essays, and speeches that continue to have relevance today.
The wildly popular Jazz Age poet ventured fearlessly beyond traditional poetic subjects to tackle political injustice, social discrimination, and female sexuality in her bestselling books. She was a spokesperson for personal freedom in 1920s America, particularly for women, with lines that illuminate the social history of the period.
The feminist writer and activist, acclaimed as the mother of second-wave feminism, covered racism, sexism, labor, class inequality, and anti-Semitism. Friedan cofounded the National Organization for Women, the National Women’s Political Caucus, and the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws.
Zitkála-Šá, who also went by the name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a member of the Yankton Dakota, also known as Sioux, tribe. An accomplished violinist, writer, and activist, she co-founded the National Council of American Indians, lobbied Congress to pass the Indian Citizenship Act, and wrote articles for The Atlantic and Harper’s, as well as two books and an opera.
Throughout the years we’ve hosted many writers for public author talks about political issues and important political moments in history. Check out some of our favorite episodes below, and stream all AWM Author Talks episodes here.
Stuart N. Brotman
The First Amendment Lives On
“To the extent that we have a First Amendment, it’s so intricately related to having a democratic process and democratic system. And unless and until we have the sort of robust First Amendment protection, we’re probably not going to have the democracy that we want.“
Daniel Ellsberg
The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner
“I looked at that and I thought, this machine, this system that we have, should not exist… It’s the most evil and insane plan. And put together by people that I knew were not insane, they were not monsters. They were ordinary, intelligent Americans.“
Daniel Yergin
The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations
“We are in an energy transition…and I wanted to convey that energy transitions have been going on for a long time. I date the beginning of the energy transition that we’re still living through to January of 1709.“
J. Michael Lennon & Maureen Corrigan
Norman Mailer’s Life and Legacy
“[Mailer] always talked about a ‘soft fascism’ coming to the United States…little by little an erosion of the powers of the press, of the powers of the courts, and so on. If Mailer were here, that’s exactly what he would say.“
Watch these videos recorded live at the 2022 American Writers Festival.
Elie Mystal and Ivy Wilson discuss Mystal’s book Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution, an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them.
In this panel discussion, The Slippery Slope of Censorship, children’s book author Jarrett Dapier discusses the dangers of censorship and book banning with Deborah Caldwell-Stone and Kristin Pekoll from the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Check out some brief bios of significant intellectuals and thinkers of the past, adapted from our exhibit American Voices.
“Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding. The books of an older period will not fit this.“
“One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.“
“They hate because they fear, and they fear because they feel the deepest feelings in their lives are being assaulted and outraged. And they do not know why; they are powerless pawns in the blind play of social forces.“
“The American Negro has the great advantage of having never believed the collection of myths to which white Americans cling: that their ancestors were all freedom-loving heroes, that they were born in the greatest country the world has ever seen…“
For more on James Baldwin, watch this recording of our program with historian Nicholas Buccola, author of The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate Over Race in America.
“For Baldwin this is the human conundrum. If you want to understand racism, homophobia, xenophobia, any ideology of exclusion, at the core is that human paradox, that fear we have.“
