"Beautiful, Hannah. Best wishes on your own process of becoming—the journey never ends. #IAmBecoming"  - Former First Lady, Michelle Obama 

Hannah was selected by Today’s Woman Magazine as the Most Admired Woman in the Arts, she is Daughter of Greatness and was honored as a Kentucky Colonel. Hannah was selected as a Soros Fellow by the Open Society Foundation, seeking to support individuals they believe will become long-term innovative leaders impacting racial justice. In 2023 Hannah was inducted into the Kentucky Women Remembered exhibit, a permanent exhibit in the State Capitol, which seeks to bring attention to outstanding women who made significant contributions to Kentucky’s history. In 2024 Hannah was the proud recipient of the Living the Vision Award which honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their community in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision and legacy. One of Hannah’s proudest accomplishments is being awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities by Simmons College of Kentucky.  Hannah’s message is thought-provoking and, at times, challenging; however, she believes that it is in uncomfortable spaces that change can take place. “My sole purpose in writing and speaking is not to entertain you. I am trying to shake a nation.”

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"Never forget: When excellence steps into the room mediocrity gets paranoid." - Hannah L. Drake

"Artists are here to disturb the peace. They have to disturb the peace." James Baldwin

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“No one is in control of your art, your gift, or your narrative except you. Tell your story.”


Hannah Drake is a blogger, podcast host, activist, public speaker, poet, and author of 11 books. She serves as the and co-executive director of IDEAS xLab and co-founder of the (Un)Known Project, which seeks to discover the hidden names and stories of Black people enslaved in Kentucky and beyond. She writes commentary on politics, feminism, and race, and her writing has been featured online at Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, The Bitter Southerner, The Lily, and Harper’s Bazaar. In 2019 during Super Bowl Sunday,Hannah’s poem, "All You Had To Do Was Play The Game, Boy," which addresses the protest by Colin Kaepernick, was shared by film writer, producer and director Ava DuVernay, and then shared by Kaepernick. The poem has been viewed more than two million times.