NYU Metro Center's Deputy Executive Director Richard Gray featured at National Sawdust+, at an evening of music, spoken word and conversations linked to the writings of James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Gray participated in a discussion centering Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompsons new opera Blue and excerpt readings from the theatrical adaptation of Coates's Between the World and Me. The conversation was moderated by NationalSawdust+ curator Elena Park and also featured Jeanine Tesori and Chris Jackson.