Mercy University Celebrates Black Excellence with Acclaimed Poet Jillian Hanesworth
On February 11, 2026, Mercy University's Office of Student Life hosted its annual Black Excellence Dinner at the Westchester Campus, bringing together students, faculty, and staff for an unforgettable evening celebrating Black History Month. The event featured two-time Emmy Award-winning spoken word artist Jillian Hanesworth, Buffalo's founding Poet Laureate, whose powerful performances and personal testimony left attendees moved and inspired.
The Black Excellence Dinner is part of Mercy University's month-long celebration of Black History Month, which includes events across all three campuses. Director of Student Life Alena Kush, who organized the event, expressed her enthusiasm for the annual tradition.
"I look forward to doing this event every year," Kush said in her opening remarks. "It is an honor to have [Jillian] here today at Mercy University to share her gift."
From Tragedy to Triumph: A Poet's Journey
Hanesworth's journey to becoming one of the nation's most compelling voices in spoken word poetry began not in a classroom or on a stage, but in the streets of Buffalo's East Side—a community she describes as one of the most segregated in America, where Black Americans have seen no economic growth in 35 years.
"I came from a community where I would go outside and everybody looked like me and understood my plight," Hanesworth told the audience. But it was the murders of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown that activated her as an artist-activist, compelling her to write her first poem, "I Wish the Little Black Boy Did Something Wrong."
"I was sitting on my mom's couch when the breaking news came across the TV: 'Officer Darren Wilson, responsible for the death of Mike Brown, will not be indicted,'" she recalled. "That feeling overwhelmed me. So I pulled out my notebook and started writing."
That single poem, recorded on her phone and shared on Facebook, launched her career as a full-time poet and community organizer.
Art as Revolutionary Act
Throughout the evening, Hanesworth performed several powerful pieces, including "The Revolution Will Rhyme" and "Morning Until Morning," each addressing themes of resilience, justice, and the power of Black storytelling.
"In my mind, art is revolutionary. Blackness is revolutionary. The existence of Black communities in this country today, right now, is revolutionary," she declared. "We're beautiful because we exist, not because we survive."
Her work took on new urgency following the May 14, 2022 mass shooting at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, where a white supremacist killed ten people, nine of them Black. The tragedy occurred in the only grocery store in her neighborhood, one of the most densely populated Black neighborhood in New York outside of New York City.
"I'll never forget that day," Hanesworth said, her voice heavy with emotion. "I'll never forget seeing bodies be brought out of a grocery store that I frequented. My friend's mother, a woman who helped raise my mother—people who were important to my community. Their lives were stolen just because they existed. Because they were black."
Healing Through Words
In the aftermath of the shooting, Hanesworth was asked to write a poem for the memorial plaque that would be installed in the reopened grocery store. Initially resistant, she called her mother in tears, questioning why she had to use something so sacred to her for the most painful experience of her life.
Her mother's response changed everything: "We all pray for a moment to do something for our community. We don't get to decide what that thing is or what it looks like. You only have two options: you rise to the occasion, or you move out of the way, because either way, the work has to get done."
The resulting poem, "Let the Hopeful Healing Waters Flow," now sits on a memorial plaque inside the grocery store, flanked by waterfalls and symbols representing Black culture. Though Hanesworth has not yet been able to visit the memorial in person, she receives photos from community members standing before it with their children.
"That one little poem, that willingness to step outside of my own feelings to create an art piece for my community, becomes the most important reminder to me," she reflected.
A Message for the Mercy Community
Hanesworth's message to the Mercy University community emphasized the power of storytelling and the importance of preserving cultural narratives.
"Before there was rap, there was poetry. There was spoken word. When we couldn't write our stories down, we memorized them and we stood in circles and we reminded each other of who we are and where we come from," she said. "Our existence, our revolution, our power, our strength is inevitable. As long as we are here to tell our stories and to hold our narrative in our hand, it doesn't matter how many books get banned or how many policies get changed."
She also shared her remarkable journey since that pivotal summer, which has included working with the NFL Network and the Buffalo Bills, traveling to Palestine to meet with activists and artists, encouraging young writers in South Africa, and discussing cultural intersectionality in Mexico.
"I've been able to do things that in my mind, I never thought I would do. And it's only because of my willingness to use my art for something bigger than myself," she said.
For more information about Black History Month at Mercy University, visit mercy.edu/bhm.