Today, I'm pleased to present one of the most powerful episodes in our archive, Say Her Name, Bearing Witness on the page and stage.

We originally aired this episode during the Say Her Name book tour last year.

It features compelling testimony from the women of the Say Her Name Mother's Network, all of whom have lost a daughter or loved one to state violence.

You'll also hear some of the country's best artists recite passages from the book

and listen to highlights from talkbacks,

featuring brilliant scholars, professors, and journalists

who join me on stage at each tour stop.

This project was a labor of love, one done in the face of massive retrenchment everywhere.

So is our annual ritual of remembrance, where we say the names of every black woman we know

of who has died at the hands of the police.

This year's ritual will blend that tradition and artivism into a special event in New York City

on Monday, December 8th at 6.30 p.m. at the Atlantic Theater Company.

And you're invited.

It's hard to believe that just five years ago, we witnessed a global outpouring

of support for dismantling structural racism bolstered by the largest protests we've ever had in

the United States. That momentum has quickly evaporated, and in its place, we're seeing a

head-spinning reversal of the hard-fought civil rights gains of the last century.

We're producing this anniversary commemoration to make a statement and make it loud and clear.

We are not stepping back and we refuse to bend the knee.

Our hope is that this performance will provide a template for using

the arts to speak truth to power in ways that can be replicated around the country. The event

is called Bridges and Gatherings. It will feature a stage reading of the play, Say Her Name,

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