As threats to freedom of speech multiply in America, what can artists who have experienced censorship firsthand teach us about resistance? Join us for a panel of writers and artists who have had their work banned, their voices silenced, or their speech chilled by those in power. The discussion will touch on ways artists, readers, and cultural workers are standing up for one another and fighting back. We will invite questions from the audience and provide advice for those experiencing censorship now or in the future. The event is organized alongside the public artwork BELONG by Gianna Stewart at RoCo and Rochester Reads 25th Anniversary at Writers & Books and is moderated by Tyler Barton.

About the Artists

Hawk is an Abolitionist, former platinum-selling songwriter and recording artist known as “midnight,” turned filmmaker specializing in educational documentaries and agitprop. His work explores history, culture, social justice, and the pursuit of liberation. Hawk has collaborated with Our Local History, Free The People ROC, The People’s Slate, NYU, St. John Fisher University, the Buffalo Bills, SJP UR, VSW, M.A.G., RMSC, Behind The Glass, In This Moment, and others. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Rochester and a proud member of the Witness Palestine Film Festival and the WXXI Rochester Teen Film Festival. Hawk is currently in post-production with the AlumniTIES program on Black Rochester Narratives, while also producing a documentary series for 490 Farmers. His debut feature film, Pressure Gradient, is currently in production and is slated for release in Fall 2028. @pressuregradient

Alex Sanchez spent almost fifteen years working with youth. He is the author of the teen novels Boyfriends with Girlfriends, Bait, The God Box, Getting It, Rainbow Boys, Rainbow High, and Rainbow Road, as well as the Lambda Award–winning middle grade novel So Hard to Say. Lambda Literary honored Alex with a Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists’ Prize. He lives in Thailand and Hollywood, Florida. AlexSanchez.com.

Gianna Stewart is a Rochester-area artist with a passion for public art. Her permanent public artworks include Spun at the Pawtucket/ Central Falls Commuter Rail Station, RI; the Esther Howland Bench at Worcester City Hall, MA; and Depth of Decision at the Underwater Museum of Art in the Gulf of Mexico. Seven custom works are in Boston Children’s Hospital’s new Hale Building. Storytell & Sway was the Asian Community Development Corporation’s inaugural Hudson Street Stoop project in Boston’s Chinatown, and Iceberg floated in the Fort Point Channel in Boston. She has also created site-specific temporary works for the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA, 8Nights8Windows in downtown Boston, ReCreation on the Boston Harbor Islands, “The Local” commission on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and a Bonnaroo skylight at the Nashville International Airport. She received her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/ Tufts University. @giannaworks

Tyler Barton is a writer, teacher, and literary advocate. He's published short stories, poems, essays, interviews, and works of criticism, and is the author of Eternal Night at the Nature Museum and The Quiet Part Loud. For over a decade he’s been leading writing workshops for the elderly and recently launched the Joe Flaherty Legacy Writing Workshops at Writers & Books. He joined the Writers & Books staff in early 2025. @tylerbartonlol

ABOUT OUR PARTNER

Writers & Books promotes reading and writing as lifelong activities for people of all ages and backgrounds to enrich their lives and the intellectual, social, and cultural vibrancy of their communities.