Elizabeth Alexander reads her poem “Race,” a three-part work on the theme of racial passing.

This video is part of LIFT EVERY VOICE, a nationwide celebration of African American poetic traditions presented by Library of America in partnership with the Schomburg Center and made possible with support from The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Emerson Collective.

For more information about the Lift Every Voice project, please visit:

For further details about “African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song,” and to purchase the book, visit:

Produced by Intelligent Television, Inc.

Music: “Lift Every Voice And Sing”—Charles Lloyd, Lift Every Voice, ℗ 2002 ECM Records GmbH, under exclusive license to Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin. Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group.

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