Ron Kavanaugh is a literary activist and the founder and director of the Literary Freedom Project, a vibrant arts organization rooted in the Bronx. Raised in the Bronx, Kavanaugh has contributed his passion and expertise to numerous local arts organizations, such as The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx Council on the Arts, and En Foco, Inc. In 2017, he organized the photography exhibition Black Documents, featuring the works of photographer Jamel Shabazz, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Lola Flash, Danny Ramon Peralta, Edwin Torres, and Michael Young. Moreover, in 2022, Kavanaugh co-curated the exhibition Swagger and Tenderness: The South Bronx Portraits by John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres at The Bronx Museum. Hilton Als, of The New Yorker, lauded this exhibition as “remarkable.” During the same year, Kavanaugh was honored with the Madam C.J. Walker Award presented by The Hurston/Wright Foundation. He is also a cofounder of the Bronx Book Fair.

The Literary Freedom Project firmly believes that cultural identity serves as a pivotal cornerstone in fostering intelligent, creative, and engaged communities. Kavanaugh oversees a range of community-oriented initiatives, including One Book One Bronx, Mosaic magazine, and the Mosaic Literary Conference. In 1996, Kavanaugh launched MosaicBooks.com, the first website dedicated to Black literature. The website closed in 2014.

Kavanaugh’s writing include “Beautiful,” “aka The Harbinger,” “Brooklyn Moon/for one night only,” “A Black Document” from the exhibition Black Documents: Jamel Shabazz ★ Freedom, and “Labor Day,” which is included in the Swagger and Tenderness catalogue.