I’m Leatrice Ellzy, President and CEO of the National Black Arts Festival (NBAF). I’m honored and excited to return to the institution where my professional journey in Black arts and culture began. This return comes at a time when so much of what we hold sacred, our identity, creativity, and cultural storytelling, is being challenged, censored, and erased. It’s not lost on me how urgent this moment is.
For generations, Black people looked to the North Star, not only for direction, but for deliverance. It was a signal. It was a quiet, brilliant guide through the dark. A reminder that even in uncertainty, we can chart our own course.
As I begin this new chapter at NBAF, I find myself asking: What is our compass now? When the stars are obscured, the maps redrawn, and the ground shifting, what orients Black artists, thinkers, and communities? Is it ancestral knowing? The impulse towards dignified resistance? The clarity of imagination? Or simply, each other?
This season, we move with intention toward discernment more than destination. It is not the rush to arrive, but the refusal to drift. The practice of holding space, holding true, and holding truth.
My commitment to you as we move ahead is clear: collaborative leadership, visionary programming, and a deep, abiding love for this work. As we strengthen our operational capacity and restore the full scope of our programming, you’ll see us re-invest in artists across disciplines, design programs rooted in joy and resistance, and return to our full citywide summer festival.
This vision is possible. More importantly, it’s essential. But it requires the collective effort of the entire village. I invite you to build with us by giving $100 to the Festival Fund and encouraging your friends and family to do the same. These are the initial steps of collectively building something bigger than ourselves. I love this for us. Let’s get to work!
With gratitude and purpose,
Leatrice Ellzy
President + CEO
National Black Arts Festival
We don’t know about you, but we miss the NBAF 10-day summer festival.
And if there were ever a moment to bring it back, it’s NOW. We’ve pointed into the future and boldly set the goal of returning to our beloved summer festival in July 2027. We’ve heard the chorus of voices from across the country calling for its return, and we feel it too.
The return to the summer festival isn’t simply a longing for nostalgia. It is an imperative as Black culture and quite frankly, blackness itself, is currently being challenged, censored, and erased in classrooms, policies, and public discourse. In the face of that, NBAF stands as a powerful act of presence, memory, and cultural preservation. And as Toni Morrison reminded us, “This is precisely the time when artists go to work.” This is our call to action.
The Festival Fund is our response. An annual community giving campaign and a bold invitation to protect the future of Black art, culture, and imagination through many small gifts which have the power to sustain. Our ask is simple: Give $100 to help bring the Festival back and carry forward the creative continuum it represents. And once you do, invite 10 of your friends and family to do the same. Every gift, of any size, moves us closer to a future where Black creativity is preserved, celebrated, and powerfully resourced.
In a city that loves to brunch, NBAF invites you to the ultimate gathering where art, culture, style, and purpose converge. Sip something bubbly. Celebrate Black creativity. Bid on curated auction items and experiences. And immerse yourself in cultural communion over great food and even better company.
Anchored by performances from a trio, a choir and a DJ, and capped by a powerful moment with special guest Kamilah Forbes, Executive Producer at the Apollo Theater and visionary Director of the Broadway-bound The Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical, this brunch is celebration of legacy, vision, and purpose.
Join us in moving the mission forward. Space is limited. Reserve your seats today!
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