past events

New York high school students bring to life voices of dissent inspired by A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. With Special Guests Isa Bruder and Quique Avilés.

An evening of music and readings inspired by the important new book Black History Is for Everyone by Brian Jones.

Presented by the Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival, Voices of a People’s History, and the Impact Lounge

This inspiring performance of Voices of the People’s History amplifies the powerful stories and voices that shape our world.

A celebration of voices, in speech and song, that embody our rich tradition of dissent on the eve of the United States Semiquincentennial. Featuring Carl Hancock Rux, Christina Kirk, Isabelle McCalla, Jeorge Bennett Watson, Mona Moriya, Nikki M. James, and Robin de Jesús.

Join Viggo Mortensen, Vanessa Redgrave, Stephen Rea, Ahmed Masoud, Miwa Nagato-Apthorp, and Kayo Chingonyi for powerful performances of stories, speeches, and songs of protest and rebellion from around the world, and across history.

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn's 3rd Annual Juneteenth in the Park brings together Ghost-Note, Voices of a People’s History, and DJ Flash Gordon Parks for an evening that celebrates the historic Texas origins of the holiday.

Join an ensemble of student voices for a showcase of Zinn's subjects through a musical and spoken word celebration of dissent, change, and civic growth.

The event features musical and spoken word performances from Black women and nonbinary artists, inspired by the Black women writers featured in the acclaimed book I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like, edited by Rebecca Carroll. Featuring live performances by Alyson Palmer, Dael Orlandersmith, Erica Ford, Italy Lee, J Wortham, Kimberly Drew, Martha Redbone, Raquel Willis, Regina Fleming, Sol Street, Sydni Johnson, and Tressie McMillan Cottom. Narrated by Rebecca Carroll and Haley Pessin.

Presented by the Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival, Voices of a People’s History, and the Impact Lounge

This inspiring performance of Voices of the People’s History amplifies the powerful stories and voices that shape our world.

At a crucial moment in our history, this special tenth anniversary event at the David Rubenstein Atrium presents a vital reimagining of Howard Zinn's subjects through a musical and spoken word celebration of dissent, change, and civic growth. Featuring Celia Keenan-Bolger, Amber Gray, Aasif Mandvi, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wallace Shawn, BD Wong, and Queen Esther, with Philip Harper and Sharp Radway.

Part of the Civic Saturdays series, Voices of a People’s History brings actors and musicians together to give voice to songs and readings that speak to the themes of liberty and the pursuit of happiness—from early U.S. history to the present. Featuring Jerrie Johnson, Amber Gray, Linda Diaz, Russell G. Jones, Queen Esther, Margaret Odette, Sharp Radway, and Philip Harper.

Featuring the words of Yuri Kochiyama, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Red Canary Song, this audience-engagement event with Akemi Kochiyama will give expression to vital documents of dissent followed by a conversation moderated by Haley Pessin, who will make connections between the performance and contemporary potentials for civic engagement.

Featuring the words of Alicia Garza, Angela Davis, Tarana J. Burke, Jill Nelson, and Marge Piercy, this soap-box style reading from Staceyann Chin will examine the efforts of people throughout the U.S. to achieve life, liberty, and happiness, despite others seeking to limit or deny these rights.

This event has been canceled due to inclement weather.

Taking advantage of the open-air nature of Hearst Plaza, this soap-box-style dramatic reenactment of key speeches—examining the efforts of people throughout the U.S. to achieve life, liberty, and happiness, despite others seeking to limit or deny these rights—will both move and energize you. Featuring Jeorge Bennett Watson.

Part of the Civic Saturdays series, Voices of a People’s History brings actors and musicians together to give voice to songs and readings that speak to the themes of liberty and the pursuit of happiness—from early U.S. history to the present. Featuring Eisa Davis, J Hoard (with guitarist Sean Richey), Martha Redbone, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Ianne Fields Stewart, Jeorge Bennett Watson, and Aaron Whitby. Narrated by Anthony Arnove and Haley Pessin.

This audience-engagement event with Jeorge Bennett Watson features a brief performance giving expression to vital documents of dissent followed by a conversation moderated by Haley Pessin, who will help the audience make connections between the performance and contemporary potentials for civic engagement.

Join us on Wednesday, June 19 for Juneteenth UNITYFEST, a BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! concert co-presented by Robert Randolph Foundation, featuring readings from Voices of a People's History.

This audience-engagement event with Russell G. Jones features a brief performance giving expression to vital documents of dissent followed by a conversation moderated by a facilitator skilled at making connections between the performance and contemporary potentials for civic engagement.

The 9th iteration of this event focuses on the vital everyday epics of common men and women engaged in the life and death struggle for justice, brought to life in performance by a chorus of young student activists joined by actor Tatiana Maslany and pianist Michael Ferrara.

Join co-editors Anthony Arnove and Haley Pessin for a discussion on the twenty-first century social movements that come to life through speeches, essays, and other documents of activism, protest, and social justice in Voices of a People’s History in the 21st Century.

This Voices of a People’s History evening of discussion and performance will shed light on an all-too-often suppressed history, and in doing so, equip us with the tools to fight for a just future.

This event spotlights readings and music from the social movements that have shaped our recent past, as collected in the newest Voices book, Voices of a People’s History of the United States in the 21st Century: Documents of Hope and Resistance.

Join us on Saturday, June 17 for Juneteenth UNITYFEST, a BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! concert co-presented by Robert Randolph Foundation, featuring readings from Voices of a People's History.

Now in its eighth year, students from Judith S. Kaye High School, N.Y.C. Lab School for Collaborative Studies, and Urban Academy Laboratory High School will bring to life these heroic voices and find personal meaning in these timeless texts.

Join leading artists and activists including Marisa Tomei, Kerry Washington, and Stephanie Hsu at The Town Hall on May 2nd for the book launch of Voices of a People's History of the United States in the 21st Century.

Celebrate Women’s History Month with the Voices of a People's History project at this dynamic musical collaboration between musician Brandee Younger and singer/actor Eisa Davis.

In collaboration with longtime Lincoln Center partner Voices of a People's History, the David Rubenstein Atrium honors the centenary of Zinn's birth with Voices of a People's History of the United States. This spoken word and musical celebration of our nation’s rich history of dissent, sets Zinn’s subjects’ words to music, alongside protest songs by rebels and visionaries of our past and present.

NYU Portraits is an annual, performance-based event featuring a dynamic cast of student and celebrity performance artists, speakers, and trailblazers. This NYU tradition is a vibrant and exciting showcase where historical and contemporary movements for justice and equity come together on stage to inspire social change.

Using the history and narratives they’ve explored this year, students will present artistic pieces covering topics within disability justice, from disabled representation in the arts to neurodivergent student self-advocacy.

This latest iteration of our now seven-year-long partnership with Lincoln Center.

Scholars and authors Imani Perry (Looking for Lorraine) and Eddie S. Glaude Jr. will discuss the 50th anniversary of the National Black Political Convention, an under-acknowledged landmark assertion of the Black freedom struggle.

Lincoln Center's 2021 Poet-in-Residence Mahogany L. Browne (Black Girl Magic) and poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor (Mama Phife Represents), will join Zakiya Collier to discuss and read aloud from Sister Outsider, collected essays from the iconic activist, author, and poet Audre Lorde.

Author and historian Donna Murch (Assata Taught Me) and journalist Chenjerai Kumanyika (cohost of Uncivil podcast) will join Zakiya Collier to discuss author W.E.B. Du Bois' 1935 text Black Reconstruction, which foregrounded the role of Blacks forging our democracy.

This musical celebration of our nation’s rich history of dissent sets Zinn's subjects’ words to music, alongside protest songs by rebels and visionaries of our past and present.

This CAP UCLA presentation will feature Marisa Tomei, Morgan Spector, Staceyann Chin, Martha Redbone with Aaron Whitby, and others.