Editor’s note: Rather than writing formal speeches, Ashley Bryan speaks to what moves him at the moment in connection with an event. At the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, he led us in animated and memorable recitations of several of Langston Hughes’s poems as part of his acceptance speech. We are pleased to print this transcription of the remarks he gave amidst the shared poetry.

What a joy to thank the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards committee for recognizing Freedom Over Me, and to work with my editor Caitlyn Dlouhy and the book’s designer, Ann Bobco. When you think you’re alone in this world, you’re not alone. You have an idea, but it’s not enough for you alone; you join with others and they feed into it with their love and care, and then something comes about.

All we had to work with was the name of a slave, and a price. From the documents I had acquired, we chose these eleven. How do we bring them alive? Caitlyn suggested: What are their dreams? And with that addition they become more human; they become each one of you reading. Each one becomes alive, and it was through this working with others that the book came about.

In fact, that’s the really deeply moving aspect of it, the care that others have for you and what you are doing. The love they bring to it allows me to get across what I have to offer. And so it means everything to me. In recognizing these eleven slaves, I would like all of us to say with me a Langston Hughes poem that is about us all.

My People
The night is beautiful,
So the faces of my people…

In affirming the love of who we are, we’ve all come together. The love of our people.

In my meeting with children in elementary schools throughout the country, and all over the world, I have only one message: the printed word has a voice. Through poetry you can find your voice. And that’s what we’re all doing as we work with our writing.

From the January/February 2018 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. For more on the 2017 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, click on the tag BGHB17. Read more by and about Ashley Bryan here.

To commemorate Black History Month, we are highlighting a series of articles, speeches, and reviews from The Horn Book archive that are by and/or about African American authors, illustrators, and luminaries in the field — one a day through the month of February, with a roundup on Fridays. Click the tag HBBlackHistoryMonth18 and look for #HBBlackHistoryMonth18 on Facebook.com/TheHornBook and @HornBook. You can find more resources about social justice and activism at our Talking About Race and Making a Difference resource pages.