Before the bright lights of Lincoln Center, before the Sports Emmy sat in her hands, before the NFL called her name, Jillian Hanesworth was just a girl from the East Side of Buffalo, New York, with words burning a hole in her chest and nowhere to put them but on the page. Now? Sheâs proof that poetry donât just belong in classrooms and open mics. It belongs on the world stage. And she is exactly where sheâs supposed to be.
Jillian Hanesworth is a spoken word artist, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Buffalo, New York, a community activist, and the recipient of a national Sports Emmy Award in the Dick Schaap Outstanding Writing category. Thatâs not a bio we consider that to be a legacy. Thatâs what happens when you combine raw talent with relentless purpose and refuse to stop speaking truth to power no matter the cost.
Letâs be clear about what went down: Hanesworth teamed up with Augustus âSlim Gusâ Clarke, a producer-director for NFL 360 in Los Angeles, for a short film titled âStill Here: The Bond Between a Heartbroken City and Its Beloved Football Teamâ and the two Buffalo natives brought the whole culture with them. Together, they won The Dick Schaap Outstanding Writing Award for their work on the NFL 360 short feature at the 2024 Sports Emmy Awards in New York City. Standing on that stage at Jazz at Lincoln Centerâs Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jillian didnât just represent herself, she represented every Black girl from a neighborhood that the world tried to overlook.
In her acceptance moment, Hanesworth made it plain: âWe got to show you a part of our city that doesnât always get to be shown on TV. A lot of you wouldnât know about Buffalo if it wasnât for chicken wings or Josh Allen. But weâre from a strong, amazing, colorful, loud city, and Iâm so proud to tell our story. Long live the East Side, and go, Bills.â
Thatâs not just winning an award. Thatâs reclaiming a narrative.
Global Vision, Local Roots is Jillian Hanesworth!
Back home, Jillian oversees âBuffalo Books,â a nationally recognized program which aims to improve access to culturally relevant books for residents of the East Side of Buffalo with the hopes of helping to increase literacy rates among Black and Brown communities. ïżŒ Awards and accolades are one thing. But showing up for your block? Thatâs the real flex.
As she reminded an audience at Mercy Universityâs Black Excellence Dinner in February 2026: âBefore there was rap, there was poetry. There was spoken word. When we couldnât write our stories down, we memorized them and we stood in circles and we reminded each other of who we are and where we come from.â
The culture was always built on that foundation and Jillian represents just that.
The Poetic Stories Interview: When Greatness Meets the Platform
Poetic Stories, the multi-disciplinary arts platform thatâs dedicated to amplifying authentic creative voices, brought Jillian Hanesworth into its universe for an exclusive interview that belongs in the archives. Filmed by the talented Stephen Rosenthal and featuring the beautifully radiant Angel Lee, the interview captured Jillian the way she deserves to be seen: unfiltered, unapologetic, and undeniable. Through the lens of IIUTI Media, the conversation went deeper than accolades. The Poetic Stories interview touched the soul of why Jillian creates, who she creates for. What it means to carry your community on your tongue every time you step to a mic.
This is exactly the kind of content Poetic Stories was built for. Not celebrity gossip. Not surface-level shine. Real art. Real talk. Real people doing real work.
Jillian gave a very special thank you to Lysette Hill of Manevue Salon Boutique and to Angel Lee of Get Twisted. They displayed beauty and energy, bringing the moment good vibes. When the vision is right, every detail matters, and these women made sure Jillian walked in looking like the legend she is.
Jillian Hanesworth is not a moment. She is a movement. She is what happens when a community pours everything into one voice and that voice refuses to break. From the streets of Buffaloâs East Side to the Emmy stage at Lincoln Center. From writing memorial poems for murdered neighbors to performing on NFL platforms seen by millions. From speaking the names of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown to standing in the wreckage of a hate crime and still choosing to create beauty from the rubble.
As Jillian herself declared: âIn my mind, art is revolutionary. Blackness is revolutionary. The existence of Black communities in this country today, right now, is revolutionary. Weâre beautiful because we exist, not because we survive.â
Jillian Hanesworth is Still Here. And the world is better for it, we could consider that Jillian has tons of Poetic Stories. PHOTO CREDIT: IIUTU Media & Poetic Stories
NFL POEM by: Jillian Hanesworth- Still Here