Join us for an eye-opening conversation featuring clips from Critical Condition: Health in Black America, the powerful NOVA and Firelight Films documentary by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson. The film investigates why Black Americans are nearly twice as likely to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease—and why their life expectancy is five years shorter than White Americans—despite no meaningful genetic differences between races.
Featured voices from the film will discuss its themes and the pressing realities of health and equity today, exploring how pseudoscientific myths about race continue to influence medicine and how the lived experience of discrimination impacts the health of Black Americans. This session connects history, science, and lived reality, offering an urgent dialogue on health equity and justice.
The conversation will be followed by a reception, offering space to continue the dialogue and connect with fellow attendees. The full
Join us live on Tuesday, September 9 at 7 PM ET for a moving conversation with award-winning journalist and author Lonnae O’Neal, as she shares the deeply personal and historical […]
Join us for A Quiet Word, a community silent reading experience, a blending of literature, music, and conversation.
Bring your favorite book, or just what you’re reading now. We’ll also have some complimentary copies of books from the 2025 March On! Reading List on hand. Then immerse yourself in two 20-minute silent reading sessions with intermittent 10-minute breaks to share your literary discoveries and insights with fellow book enthusiasts. Sip a cup of tea while a curated playlist enhances the vibe.
Sponsor
Eaton House
Health has always been a civil rights issue. From the struggle to desegregate hospitals to today’s fights around Black maternal mortality, chronic disease, and structural bias in medicine, the right to be well has long been shaped by race, power, and policy.
Presentors and Speakers
Join us at Woolly Mammoth Theatre for March On! Night and a thought-provoking performance of The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)—a comedic and resonant play examining America’s history of harming Black bodies in the name of science, our responsibility to time, and the power of joy in reckoning with the past. The evening includes a special conversation hosted by March On!
Pre-Show
7:30pm Wine, Art & Connection
Join us in the lobby before the show to sip, mingle, and immerse yourself in an installation celebrating the resilience, creativity, and intelligence of Black communities across time. It honors not only the grief in the play but also the joy, beauty, and unstoppable forward movement of Black life. Here, celebration is resistance, rest is wisdom, and gathering is a radical act.
Post-Show Conversation
Festival pass holders are invited to a special pre-event screening of We Want the Funk! with acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Nelson. This syncopated journey through the history of funk traces its roots from African rhythms to soul and early jazz- capturing the sound, spirit, and soul of a cultural revolution.
Valet Parking Available for Gala Attendees at Dock 5
This interactive conversation brings together the most pressing health issues facing both women and men—while centering the tools and confidence needed to advocate for your own care. From prenatal health to menopause, from prostate and testicular cancer to diabetes, and from sexual health to heart and elder care, the panel addresses the full spectrum of concerns across the lifespan.
Drawing on the real stories of front-line medical experts and community leaders, this session tackles both the science and the stigma, highlighting the disproportionate burdens Black communities face and offering practical strategies for prevention, early detection, and whole-person wellness. Above all, it’s about breaking silence, removing barriers, and ensuring that every person can access the care they want and need—body, mind, and spirit.
Moderator
Panelists
This program will explore the elements of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments, focusing on key definitions, terminology, and the broad scope of what constitutes disability today. We will examine how this landmark legislation has evolved to better protect individuals with disabilities - and how it has not - using real-world examples. Panelists will discuss the proposed bill: Reproductive Health Care Accessibility Act and how they aim to address persistent gaps in care for all people with disabilities in rural and underserved urban communities.
Curated by Dara Baldwin, this session offers actionable ways for citizens to support inclusive legislation.
Speakers
An Intro to ASL Workshop, in partnership with Interpret This!, on the history and fundamentals of American Sign Language.
Speakers
Join us for a spectacular evening of recognition, celebration, and joy—culminating in a high-energy, funk-infused dance party you won’t want to miss. This unforgettable night will honor visionary leaders who continue to shape the narrative of civil rights and social justice in America.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will present Senator Cory Booker with the John Robert Lewis Lifetime Legacy Award. Congressman Maxwell Frost will present the March On! Lifetime Achievement Award to Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith—along with Firelight Media, the trailblazing documentary platform they co-founded.
The evening will be hosted by Jonathan Capehart, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, MSNBC anchor, Washington Post opinion columnist, and New York Times bestselling author.
Please note: If you'd like to attend the Gala along with other Festival events, the best option is to purchase the Festival Pass + Gala pass, which grants access to everything for $600.
If you sponsor the festival at the friend
