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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Angela Jackson was born in Greenville,
3Mississippi and was raised on Chicago's South Side before
4embarking on an academic career at Northwestern University and
5the University of Chicago; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Angela Jackson has distinguished herself as an
7award-winning poet, novelist, and playwright; she has authored
8three chapbooks, four volumes of poetry, and several stage
9plays; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Angela Jackson's writing has been honored with
11numerous awards, including the Carl Sandburg Award, the Chicago
12Sun-Times/Friends of Literature Book of the Year Award, the
13John Gardner Prize, and the American Book Award; in addition,
14she has been nominated for numerous other awards, including the
15Pulitzer Prize; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Angela Jackson was a 20-year member of the
17Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) Writers'
18Workshop and succeeded the late Hoyt W. Fuller as its chair;
19and
 
20    WHEREAS, Angela Jackson's poetry and fiction have been
21published in many journals and anthologies, including

 

 

SR1516- 2 -LRB101 23188 LAW 74328 r

1Triquarterly, First World, NOMMO, Chicago Review, Essence, and
2The Best of the Pushcart Prizes, among others; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Angela Jackson has traveled throughout Illinois
4to teach students of the importance, power, and
5self-empowerment of poetry; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Angela Jackson has, in being named Poet Laureate
7of Illinois, followed in the footsteps of Howard Austin, Carl
8Sandburg, Kevin Stein, and Gwendolyn Brooks, whose life she
9chronicled in her biography A Surprised Queenhood in the New
10Black Sun: The Life and Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks; therefore,
11be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
13ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare November 25,
142020 as Angela Jackson Day and support her goal of awakening in
15people a lifelong passion for poetry; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17presented to Angela Jackson, Poet Laureate of Illinois, as a
18symbol of our respect and esteem.