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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the
3 State of Illinois are pleased to recognize the 20th anniversary
4 of the Eugene B. Redmond (EBR) Writers Club; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Named in honor of Eugene B. Redmond,
6 world-renowned poet, editor, publisher, essayist, tenured
7 professor, and Poet Laureate of East St. Louis, the writers
8 club was formed in East St. Louis in March of 1986 at State
9 Community College and was chartered on November 21, 1986, by
10 Sherman L. Fowler, Mr. Redmond, and Darlene Roy, President; and
 
11     WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has benefitted from the sage
12 advice, guidance, and support of outstanding Board of Trustee
13 members, including Margaret Walker Alexander, Maya Angelou,
14 Amiri Baraka, Avery Brooks, Gwendolyn Brooks, Walter Mosley,
15 Raymond Patterson, Barbara A. Teer, Quincy Troupe, and Dr. Lena
16 Weathers; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has co-published "Drumvoices
18 Revue", "a confluence of literary, cultural, and vision arts",
19 for 15 years and "Break Word with the World" for 11 years with
20 Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville (SIUE), and its
21 members have been widely published in literary anthologies and
22 journals throughout the United States; and
 
23     WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has held writers and thinkers
24 conferences, poetry readings, writers workshops, and hosted a
25 5-year, multi-cultural reading series with SIUE in addition to
26 its free annual Black History, Fresh & Ancestral, Break Word
27 with the World, East St. Louis Project, and Pre-Kwanzaa
28 Celebration programs; and
 
29     WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club members have performed at
30 poetry readings and book parties, participated on panels,

 

 

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1 attended writers conferences in the East St. Louis/St. Louis
2 area, and in Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago; Indianapolis, Indiana;
3 Jefferson City, Missouri; New Brunswick, New Jersey; New York,
4 New York; Sacramento and San Francisco, California; Kingston,
5 Jamaica; Paris, France; and Ibadan and Lagos, Nigeria; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club members' considerable
7 talents were used to aide various community causes, including
8 writing and producing television ads for the East St. Louis
9 Board of Elections on purging voter rolls and proper use of new
10 voting machines; raising funds for the Katherine Dunham Centers
11 in 1986 and for flood victims in 1987; and writing poetry for
12 inclusion in two "Women's Lives Daily Planners" published by
13 the St. Louis Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Foundation
14 with assistance from the St. Louis University School of Public
15 Health, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation, and Jackie
16 Joyner-Kersee Boys and Girls Club; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has further served the area
18 by judging annual poetry contests and selecting poetry from the
19 public domain to be placed on MetroLink cars and buses in
20 conjunction with Metro (formerly Bi-State Transit), Washington
21 University's Writers Center, and River Styx Association; and
22 conducting poetry readings, Kwanzaa programs, and Black
23 history, culture, and literature workshops at schools,
24 churches, anniversaries, festivals, and testimonials in the
25 Metro East St. Louis/St. Louis area; and
 
26     WHEREAS, The EBR Writers Club has generated positive
27 attention for the East St. Louis community through numerous
28 radio interviews, television appearances, and newspaper
29 articles published across the United States, Europe, and
30 Africa; therefore, be it
 
31     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
32 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that

 

 

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1 we recognize the 20th anniversary of the Eugene B. Redmond
2 Writers Club, and we thank the members for their many
3 contributions to the East St. Louis community; and be it
4 further
 
5     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
6 presented to the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club as an
7 expression of our esteem.