but cave canem is a kind of fortification. are not a poet or black, it is a fortification of your language, your history, your future. we have seen a black president, and we are seeing what kind of president comes after a black president. we've seen -- [applause] and we still are seeing black men and women killed by people sworn to protect them. our lives remain in danger, which is to say your lyes remain in -- your lives remain in danger. we need arts organizations like cave canem, organizations that put writers in schools, homeless shelters, prisons and myriad underserved communities. sometimes your living room is at underserved community.ie nonprofit arts organizations need your support, your loyalty, your bark and your bite. we must be the dogs guarding the house. we are here tonight to say thank you for your work, toi and cornelius. thank you. you've done a good job. [applause] you have made possible so many lives, most of which my own. please come on up. [applause] ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ [applause] >> wow. [laughter] i am mo

in 2015, three cave canem poets won top literary awards. voyage of the sable venus. [applause] blake, the pulitzer prize for digest. [applause] ed rossgate, the new york book critics' circle awards for catalog of unabashed gratitude. [applause] i believe that the cave canem poets will be the flesh and blood of the work that our country can needs so urgently to do, especially now. this energy does not belong to us, it was passed down through the creative genius of oureativn ancestors which was their response to slavery and oppression. we do them honor by passing it on. joy is an act of resistance. thank you. [applause] >> one of the great things about cave canem is the ability to see one another in a room, and i have that feeling right now. we're all seeing each other. and thank you, national book foundation, for seeing what we've done. thank you. [applause]ations >> one more hand, everybody. wow. [applause] wow. very powerful. that's what i call controlling the narrative. you know? whenever people get to control the narrative, we get to hea