Last month, Cave Canem fellows, faculty and friends convened at The CUNY Graduate Center for A Tribute to June Jordan, a day-long celebration of the writer’s work and life.

Poet and co-trustee of the June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust, Jan Heller Levi, kicked off the day’s events with a keynote address. Panels were held throughout the day and ranged in theme—from “A Revolutionary Blueprint for Building Literary Communities” to “For the Sake of People’s Poetry: A Discussion of Jordan’s Essay about Inclusivity and Accessibility.” In one such panel, an audience member noted “There was a high level of electricity in the room. It was generated by a deep commitment to the cause of creating a place for people of many kinds.” A culminating reading of June Jordan’s work by thirteen distinguished poets concluded the evening.

We’re thankful for the generosity of our co-presenters and co-sponsors who helped make A Tribute to June Jordan possible. We echo Jan Heller Levi, who in her keynote said, “most of all I want to thank June, who brings us all together again and again and again.”

Footage of “A Tribute to June Jordan”
Provided by The CUNY Center for Humanities

Keynote Lecture by Jan Heller Levi
https://vimeo.com/271267086/7c943fe042

Liberatory Pedagogy
https://vimeo.com/271268179/333d622528

For the Sake of People’s Poetry: A Discussion of Jordan’s Essay about Inclusivity and Accessibility
https://vimeo.com/271267510/b9603013b0

Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint for Building Literary Communities
https://vimeo.com/271270044/3d85831866

We’re On: Writers in Conversation about how the June Jordan Reader can carry us into new forms of revolution
https://vimeo.com/271271706/94d395bbd4

A Reading of June Jordan’s Work
https://vimeo.com/271270893/f3ec2244f8

This program was made possible by generous contributions from HarperCollins Publishers, Alice James Books, the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and NYU Creative Writing Program; and partnership with the Center for the Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center, The June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust, Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative, The Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean (IRADAC) and The Feminist Press at CUNY.