African Voices invites submissions for the Summer/Fall 2025 issue focused on the artistry and activism of the late Harry Belafonte. This issue will be guest edited by award-winning poet, author, and artist Keisha-Gaye Anderson.

Harry Belafonte's decades-long work of blending his artistry and activism to promote civil rights and human rights in the United States and beyond helped to foment significant social change in his lifetime, from his work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to his role in the anti-apartheid movement.

This issue will showcase fiction, art, poetry, and essays that exemplify some of the areas that Belafonte was passionate about, including racial equity, social justice, human rights, community empowerment, the interconnectedness of the cultural production of the African diaspora in the Americas, and the power of literacy and the arts to positively transform lives. 

“Artists are the gatekeepers of truth," said Belafonte. "We are civilization’s anchor. We are the compass for humanity’s consciousness.” The issues that Belafonte worked to advance in his life in terms of Civil Rights and human rights are particularly resonant at this moment. We want to share your work that reflects and ponders these themes.

Please include your short bio and contact information with your submission.

What we’re looking for:

● Fiction – no more than 2,500 words

● Essays – no more than 2,500 words

● Poetry – three to five poems

● Artwork – three to five images

File types accepted: Word, PDF, JPEG, TIFF.

African Voices does not accept AI generated poems, short stories, essays or art. Submissions must be 100 percent created by human writers and artists. We accept original content.