Tea Talk #1 | Sunday, February 1, 2026 | 2:00 PM | Portsmouth Public Library 

A More Perfect Union: The Legacy of African American Speechmaking 

• Breaking Barriers: The Resilience and Wisdom of Black Speakers, Gotham Artists:  https://gothamartists.com/the-resilience-and-wisdom-of-black-speakers/ 

• Frederick Douglass Orator 

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/frederick-douglass-orator

Tea Talk #3 | Sunday, February 15, 2026 | 2:00 PM | Portsmouth Public Library 

Unbought & Unbossed: Black Female Oratory 

1. “Freedom!”: Black Women Speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,

   Stanford University’s The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/freedom-black-women-speak-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom

2. Black Women’s Historical Speeches: Asserting Self-Determination and Challenging Racist Narratives, National Communication Association: https://www.natcom.org/publications-library/black-womens-historical-speeches-asserting-self-determination/

Tea Talk #4 | Sunday, February 22, 2026 | 2:00 PM | Portsmouth Public Library 

On the Pulse of Morning: The Future of African American Oratory 

1. Why Telling Our Own Story is so Powerful for Black Americans by Andrea Collier, Culture: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_telling_our_own_story_is_so_powerful_for_black_americans 

• The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman: https://contentmanager.med.uvm.edu/docs/the_hill_we_climb/vccyf-documents/the_hill_we_climb.pdf?sfvrsn=44a33335_2 

Black History Walks into a Bar by Nyarae Francis: https://www.nyaraefrancis.com/post/black-history-walks-into-a-bar