HR1468 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1468 LRB094 21713 HSS 60114 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois are pleased to recognize the 20th anniversary of the Eugene B. Redmond (EBR) Writers Club; and

WHEREAS, Named in honor of Eugene B. Redmond, world-renowned poet, editor, publisher, essayist, tenured professor, and Poet Laureate of East St. Louis, the writers club was formed in East St. Louis in March of 1986 at State Community College and was chartered on November 21, 1986, by Sherman L. Fowler, Mr. Redmond, and Darlene Roy, President; and

WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has benefitted from the sage advice, guidance, and support of outstanding Board of Trustee members, including Margaret Walker Alexander, Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Avery Brooks, Gwendolyn Brooks, Walter Mosley, Raymond Patterson, Barbara A. Teer, Quincy Troupe, and Dr. Lena Weathers; and

WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has co-published "Drumvoices Revue", "a confluence of literary, cultural, and vision arts", for 15 years and "Break Word with the World" for 11 years with Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville (SIUE), and its members have been widely published in literary anthologies and journals throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has held writers and thinkers conferences, poetry readings, writers workshops, and hosted a 5-year, multi-cultural reading series with SIUE in addition to its free annual Black History, Fresh & Ancestral, Break Word with the World, East St. Louis Project, and Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration programs; and

WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club members have performed at poetry readings and book parties, participated on panels, attended writers conferences in the East St. Louis/St. Louis area, and in Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jefferson City, Missouri; New Brunswick, New Jersey; New York, New York; Sacramento and San Francisco, California; Kingston, Jamaica; Paris, France; and Ibadan and Lagos, Nigeria; and

WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club members' considerable talents were used to aide various community causes, including writing and producing television ads for the East St. Louis Board of Elections on purging voter rolls and proper use of new voting machines; raising funds for the Katherine Dunham Centers in 1986 and for flood victims in 1987; and writing poetry for inclusion in two "Women's Lives Daily Planners" published by the St. Louis Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Foundation with assistance from the St. Louis University School of Public Health, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee Boys and Girls Club; and

WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has further served the area by judging annual poetry contests and selecting poetry from the public domain to be placed on MetroLink cars and buses in conjunction with Metro (formerly Bi-State Transit), Washington University's Writers Center, and River Styx Association; and conducting poetry readings, Kwanzaa programs, and Black history, culture, and literature workshops at schools, churches, anniversaries, festivals, and testimonials in the Metro East St. Louis/St. Louis area; and

WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has generated positive attention for the East St. Louis community through numerous radio interviews, television appearances, and newspaper articles published across the United States, Europe, and Africa; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the 20th anniversary of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club, and we thank the members for their many contributions to the East St. Louis community; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club as an expression of our esteem.