In the News: Kahn Discusses Relevance of AFP with WBFO

Drew Kahn, Buffalo State’s SUNY Distinguished Service Professor of Theater, did an extensive interview with National Public Radio affiliate WBFO about the college’s 11th annual social justice festival, Anne Frank Project, and its keynote speaker. Kahn (pictured), who is the founder and director of AFP, spoke with reporter Marian Hetherly in "Award-Winning Author-Activist Alex De Veaux Headlining Buffalo State’s Social Justice Festival," which aired October 1.

In his interview, Kahn said, “It’s not hard to find social injustice in our world today, where corruption, where greed, where the pursuit of power is put in front of taking care of each other. The real basic meaning of social justice is taking care of each other, that there is ‘we’ before ‘me.’”

Author and activist Alexis De Veaux kicked off AFP 2019: Engage for Change on October 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center. She was the distinguished speaker in the Buffalo State College Paul G. Bulger Lecture Series.

Kahn described De Veaux, one of eight children who grew up in Harlem, New York, as a fighter who overcame the odds to find tremendous success.

“What Alexis De Veaux brings to Buffalo State and to the Anne Frank Project this year is this really strong, unapologetic voice about, ‘Yes, I can. Yes, you can. Here’s what I did. Let’s put it on you for a workshop, so you can understand that your dreams are important, that you realize your potential and that it's not some sort of distant, abstract idea, your success, your personal fight for success.’”

Kahn also pointed to the 18,000 refugees who have resettled in Buffalo from incredibly difficult places as the modern-day Anne Franks.