SR1516 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1516 LRB101 23188 LAW 74328 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Angela Jackson was born in Greenville, Mississippi and was raised on Chicago's South Side before embarking on an academic career at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Angela Jackson has distinguished herself as an award-winning poet, novelist, and playwright; she has authored three chapbooks, four volumes of poetry, and several stage plays; and

WHEREAS, Angela Jackson's writing has been honored with numerous awards, including the Carl Sandburg Award, the Chicago Sun-Times/Friends of Literature Book of the Year Award, the John Gardner Prize, and the American Book Award; in addition, she has been nominated for numerous other awards, including the Pulitzer Prize; and

WHEREAS, Angela Jackson was a 20-year member of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) Writers' Workshop and succeeded the late Hoyt W. Fuller as its chair; and

WHEREAS, Angela Jackson's poetry and fiction have been published in many journals and anthologies, including Triquarterly, First World, NOMMO, Chicago Review, Essence, and The Best of the Pushcart Prizes, among others; and

WHEREAS, Angela Jackson has traveled throughout Illinois to teach students of the importance, power, and self-empowerment of poetry; and

WHEREAS, Angela Jackson has, in being named Poet Laureate of Illinois, followed in the footsteps of Howard Austin, Carl Sandburg, Kevin Stein, and Gwendolyn Brooks, whose life she chronicled in her biography A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun: The Life and Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare November 25, 2020 as Angela Jackson Day and support her goal of awakening in people a lifelong passion for poetry; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Angela Jackson, Poet Laureate of Illinois, as a symbol of our respect and esteem.