“How is it that these people, brought involuntarily and denied their humanity, have created and invented the culture that has rocked the world for hundreds of years? Black music, Black dance, in different variations inventing the form of the slave narrative. What Black poetry has done over the course, especially of the last century… I think that there is a relationship between being denied humanity and voice with finding voice and self-expression.” Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, shares her thoughts on the intersection of social justice and the arts.