April is National Poetry Month. April 22 is Earth Day. To celebrate, come to the Michigan Avenue branch for a poetry reading featuring three main performers, including Leslie McGraw & Desirae Simmons. Each will have 20 minutes to share their work. Our remaining time will be open for group conversation and some Open Mic audience participation.

Join us for a free informative intro session to social media management on December 2 at 3 pm.

Join poet and presenter Leslie McGraw for a 1.5 hour workshop and learn about various journaling techniques, how to mine journals for patterns, poems, and stories, how to review poems for connection (as opposed to scholarly review), and engage in a couple of guided reflections.

Participants may bring a notebook or journal and something to write with. Materials are also provided.

The first ever Elbert Williams Voter Empowerment Day, as declared by me on the 114th anniversary of the birth of my great grand uncle. He was the first voting rights martyr killed while working to get the vote in an official capacity with the NAACP.

September 22: “What If We Were All Free?”

As part of the collaborative RE:CLAIM project, ICPJ is hosting a Compassionate Community Conversation called “What If We Were All Free.” We will use poetry, storytelling, and reflection to help guide the conversation and to explore the foundational tenets of prison industrial complex abolition. We are grateful to be joined by Leslie McGraw, Lisa Jackson, and Natalie Holbrook with others from the American Friends Service Committee and the stories they will share from “Let Me Tell You.”

Hosted by ICPJ as part of our Compassionate Community Conversations program to build greater empathy and understanding within our communities, even when we hold different viewpoints. Providing ambient sound and vibes will be ‘The Chill Place’, a multi-media production house, focused on bridging the gaps between all demographics of people.

Come celebrate the incredible work released by Washtenaw County poets from March 2020 to 2022 on Friday, June 24 from 6-9 pm at an outdoor Belated Book Birthday Party at Booksweet.

Join us for the Juneteeth Worship Experience with Musical Director Rev. L. Deon Williams.

Comedy Set will begin at 2:45 pm.

Join us for hustle lessons, African dance & drummers, and more! Black Joy Kids Corner begins at 11 am.

Join the Ann Arbor NAACP for the 28th Annual Juneteenth Celebration at Wheeler Park! There will be food, activities, vendors, entertainment and so much more!

The Ann Arbor African American Downtown Festival will celebrate 25 years in June. The event will include performances, activities, retail, and more. The massive street party takes over the intersection of N. 4th Ave and E. Ann St.

Learn how to lock down your social data with Les Go Social Friday, May 27 at 11 am.

Join Leslie on the new IG pop-up series, “So, that’s my business” with designer and artist, Amy Balzer-Pemberton.

Host Chuck Newman talks to Leslie McGraw and William Hampton about the origins of Juneteenth and their family stories. LIVE Recording on full event listing.

Leslie is launching a new phase in her journey, unifying her work in Social Media, community and racial justice, and poetry.

What does it mean to reclaim Black narratives, to be the authors and curators of their own truths? Hear from local leaders and griots, Leslie McGraw, Alex Thomas, and Orlando Bailey about how their experiences as storytellers are shaping their visions of a just and thriving society. Centering Justice, hosted by Nonprofit Enterprises at Work, is a space to honor and uplift the voices of leaders of color as central pillars in change-making. Listening to their lived experiences gives more context to the narrative unfolding in today’s climate. Register today.