Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of “The 1619 Project,” will speak at UB on Feb. 16 as the 46th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Speaker.

Her talk, part of UB’s Distinguished Speakers Series, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

Hannah-Jones covers racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine, and has spent years chronicling the way official policy has created — and maintains — racial segregation in housing and schools. She is the creator and lead writer of the Times’ major multimedia initiative “The 1619 Project.” Named for the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in America, the project features an ongoing series of essays and art on the relationship between slavery and everything from social infrastructure and segregation, to music and sugar — all by Black American authors, activists, journalists and more. Hannah-Jones wrote the project’s introductory essay, which earned her the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

She also is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Peabody Award, two George Polk awards and three National Magazine awards.

Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting with the goal of increasing the number of reporters and editors of color. She holds a MA in mass communication from the University of North Carolina and earned a BA in history and African-American studies from the University of Notre Dame.

She is the inaugural Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at the Howard University School of Communications, where she will also found the Center for Journalism and Democracy.

Tickets for Hannah-Jones’ lecture range from $25 to $45 and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster or in person at the Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Those attending the lecture will be required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Individuals are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine. A vaccination card, a photo of a vaccination card, an Excelsior Pass or a digital vaccine card are all acceptable. Attendees should be prepared to show photo ID as well.

Face coverings continue to be required for all inside campus buildings.