Freedom in Every Verse: America’s River Roots Festival with Annie Ruth and Ajanaé Dawkins 

In October 2025, during Cincinnati’s historic America’s River Roots Festival, spoken-word performances by Annie Ruth and Ajanaé Dawkins kicked off the 40th anniversary year of the Taft Museum's Duncanson Program, which has now been expanded to year-round events and activities. 

Ruth and Dawkins are both former Duncanson artists-in-residence, and festivalgoers at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center's Harriet Tubman stage experienced transformative performances as stirring as the history embedded in the 40 years of the program. The buzz vibrated along the riverfront. Families, creatives, and other festivalgoers, drawn by something they may not even have had words for yet, drifted toward the Harriet Tubman Stage, named for a woman whose courage reshaped the course of history—the perfect setting for the voices of artists who carry that same spirit of liberation and truth into their work.

Annie Ruth stepped forward first, and instantly the atmosphere shifted. There is a richness in the way she holds a moment, by the way she invokes a deep, grounded presence shaped by decades of artistic leadership, education, and community-building. 

A Duncanson artist-in-residence in 2003, Ruth has long been a bridge between art and community, and hearing her perform again was a reminder of why her influence is felt so widely. Her voice was steady and warm, the kind that wraps around you while simultaneously challenging you to rise.

She spoke of resilience, of memory, of the quiet but powerful labor of Black mothers and grandmothers. “No matter who you are or what you do,” said Ruth during her performance, “you are enough.” She spoke of joy as resistance, and it landed with weight with the crowd. She embodies courage and invites others to discover it within themselves. 

Then came Ajanaé Dawkins, a 2022 Duncanson artist-in-residence whose work continues to evolve in compelling ways. Dawkins's performance was a surge of raw honesty, emotional nuance, and rhythmic brilliance. Her poems moved like waves that were, at times, soft and reflective, but sharp enough to leave you breathless.

Dawkins showcased her ability to hold vulnerability and power in the same palm. On that stage, she challenged the audience to sit with truth, to sit with discomfort, and to recognize beauty in the fractures. Her words felt like both protest and prayer—a duality she wields with remarkable grace.

Through Ruth's and Dawkins's performances, pride in the Duncanson Program’s legacy shines brightly in the continuation of uplifting voices like theirs: different generations benefiting from the Duncanson Program and demonstrating its continued relevance and importance to the cultural ecosystem that honors creativity not as an afterthought, but as a driving force.

As these artists’ words flowed on stage and the Ohio river carried its own quiet rhythm, the significance of this moment arose. The Taft, through its Duncanson Program on the America’s River Roots Festival stage, celebrated heritage, culture, and community—creating the exact kind of space where the work of Annie Ruth and Ajanaé Dawkins belongs.