“font-family: Verdana;”>“We are here to honor an uncommon man – and one of the greatest poets the literary field has ever seen,” Haki R. Madhubuti, poet, author and founder of Third World Press & Writers Club, told the audience Wednesday night. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Don’t take him for granted. We have to honor him while he is still alive – he would never ask you for this, but he deserves it.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Eugene B. Redmond eagerly rushed to the stage to give his own praises for Madhubuti – sharing the story of them meeting back in 1966 on the cusp of the beginning of the Black Arts Movement. But Redmond appeared to shy away from Madhubuti’s notion that he gets some glory for birthing a new wave of artistic and literary contributions by way of the group that bears his name.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The Eugene Redmond Writers Club was celebrating the group’s silver anniversary. Seeking to usher East St. Louis into another 25 years of creativity by way of the EBR Writers Club, Redmond chose two of the men who inspired him to leave a lingering urge to create and empower via poetry through Madhubuti and Amiri Baraka – one of the founding fathers of the Black Arts Movement.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“If you don’t know who you are, anyone can name you,” Madhubuti told the crowd in one of several poems that he performed. “If poetry is to have meaning, it must mean something.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Baraka’s heavy-hitting presentation covered a host of controversial takes on religion, politics, capitalism and the September 11 attacks. Between the lines of his quick-paced poems – where he jumped from one cadence to the next, inserting sounds that paid tribute to the jazz music – he made his artistic intention clear.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Mighty Africa – creator of the human being, of speech, of music, of dance,” Baraka said. “The dream was that art would come out of the classrooms and liberate the African people.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Aside from his introduction – which comprised of a poetical tag-team between him and his daughter Treasure Shields Redmond – whenever Redmond approached the podium or grabbed the microphone, it was to offer praises and inspiration to someone else and the group. He opted out of any spotlight, biography, personal or professional accolades to make provisions for the future artists of East St. Louis and his Black Arts Movement heroes.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>For the past quarter-century, the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club has embodied the spirit of the man that bears its name. And the time had come to celebrate the group’s impact on the lives it touches and the city that has played host.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The introductory drums of Sunshine’s Community Percussion Ensemble bounced from the walls of the History Museum auditorium, and guests felt the urge to clap, to stomp, to shout – to carry on whatever form of expression they saw fit.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>This exact experience is what EBR Writers Club has incited through not only poetry and prose, but the connections to restoring the bridge between the community and the arts in East St. Louis.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“You are making history with every drum beat and every word spoken. You are a continuation of the legacy of the Black Arts Movement,” said East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Jr.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“And I speak for the 27,086 residents of East St. Louis in saying thank you for the workshops, literacy consultations and allowing people to express themselves through the concept of writing and beyond. You are encouraging them to do whatever they need to put the pen to paper – or in these days the hand to the computer – for the sake of creative arts.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Dance sequences by the children of the SIUE-ESL Center for the Performing Arts (under the direction of Theo Jamison) and jazz music by the young men of Kendrick Smith left footprints of inspiration of East St. Louis icons Katherine Dunham and Miles Davis on stage.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>But as the Drumvoices of the Eugene Redmond Writers club stepped forward to offer their interpretations of the Kwansaba – a style of poetry developed by Redmond that is made up of seven lines with each line having seven words and seven syllables – Redmond stood fittingly among the artistic giants of East St. Louis.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“So many of us were inspired by him coming back home in the mid-1980s,” said Darlene Roy, mistress of ceremonies and Eugene B. Redmond Writer’s Club president. “He didn’t have to do that, but I’m so glad he did.”
