This image is of Peggy (R), then a 19 year-old SNCC member, next to future civil rights icon, Dr. Dorothy Cotton (L), after a 1962 church burning in Georgia—the state that Peggy's great-great grandparents, William & Ellen Craft, famously escaped from enslavement nearly 115 years earlier...
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W O R D...O R T W O...O R T H R E E...
WEDNESDAY, 9.17.25
Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely
Dr. Dorothy Cotton
HARLEM WRITERS GUILD EVENT TODAY @ 7 PM ET | "THE LIGHT-WORKERS" | ILYON WOO
Once again, I apologize for not updating in such a long time, but I'm back, and have three special words to share... The first is that TODAY, Wed. 9/17/25 @ 7 pm ET, I will be one of the writers presenting some of my poetry for the Harlem Writers Guild's "A Virtual Reading in Celebration of 75 Years of Excellence", as part of The 2025 Brooklyn Book Festival. Please join me for the FREE virtual event by signing up here.
The second special word is that since I first posted about doing select joint appearances with acclaimed author, Ilyon Woo, author of Master, Slave, Husband, Wife (Simon & Schuster)—the lauded book on my great-great-grandparents William & Ellen Craft—it has won The Pulitzer Prize! I reposted below the wonderful segment about William & Ellen featuring Ilyon and myself on CBS Sunday Morning.
Finally, downthread is my latest poem, "The Light-Workers", that I absolutely felt compelled to share due to the current climate around the country...
THE LIGHT-WORKERS
by Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely
In this dark and perilous time
The Light-Workers come forth
Our toil and steady beam
Confronts and exposes
Through improvisation, conversation and confrontation
What is urgent theatre for our survival.
We share some sunshine
Quote our Constitution
Stand tall
Wave signs
Link arms
Distribute leaflets
Post bail
Offer shelter
Distribute water
Serve food
Spread truth
Demonstrate love
Do not blink at arrest
Attest to the law
Reveal broken promises
Lift up the weary
Give voice to the silenced
On our sidewalks
In coffee shops
At border crossings
In boardrooms
In The Oval Office
At the Post Office
In lettuce fields
At taco stands
At the car wash
In the barbershop
On the subway
At tollbooths
In church basements
In Congress
In prisons
In class rooms
And in our courtrooms....
Where justice can and must yet prevail.
We must each be a Light-Worker
Who shines our beams
That shields bodies
Speaks truth
Lifts spirits
Forages for hope
In service and salvation....
For the LIBERATION of us all!
© 2025 Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely. All rights reserved.