Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities Recipient – Hannibal Lokumbe

Composer and jazz trumpeter, Hannibal Lokumbe, an NPN supported artist, is the recipient of the 2020 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities given by Americans for the Arts. The $65,000 annual award honors an individual artist who demonstrates a sustained commitment to civic participation through their work, and who has made a positive and meaningful difference to inspire, inform, engage, challenge, animate, and celebrate communities through arts and culture.

Based in Bastrop, TX, Hannibal’s work, whether in concert halls, prisons, schools, or with community and faith institutions, offers a path forward to transform trauma into self-determined healing and justice. His work has been commissioned and performed by symphonies and major orchestras across the country. Hannibal’s compositions concentrate on relating the experiences of groups and individuals who have shown courage in the face of oppression, including enslaved Africans, Native Americans, Anne Frank, Rosa Parks, and Fannie Lou Hamer. His deep commitment to incarcerated individuals over decades has guided a music and storytelling process that is rooted in vulnerability, openness, spiritualism, and forgiveness.

You can find out more about Hannibal here as well as links to lists of all 12 Nominees, fellow Nominators, and the Selection Committee.