On February 27th at 12:30 pm in Dumas Hall in Room 107 at Alcorn State University (ASU) the College of Arts and Sciences presented The 2024 African American Read-In. The Co-hosts of the event was Dr. J. Janice Coleman, Professor of English and Dr. Valtreasa Tolliver-Cook, Associate Professor of Social Work.
The program allowed students and audience members to hear the words of iconic figures designed to encourage further generations.
The event opened with Dr. Coleman welcoming everyone for coming and then reading an excerpt by Voting and Women’s Rights Activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, which was the “Testimony before the Credentials Committee at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey on August 22, 1964”. The excerpt painted a horrific picture of the atrocities that women were experiencing in society.
Afterwards, Dr. Coleman introduced the readers as they each came up. There were readings of poems by Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and other prolific writers. Imani White read “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou. White stated, “Dr. Angelou has spoken to me more and more as I have grown up. I understand what it is to just be myself and understand that I am phenomenal. Just because I am.”
Participants in The Read-In were Aaliyah Green, Dylan Wallace, Imani White, A’Naya Harris, Courtney White, Yangho Park, Clinton A. McKinney and JerCore Jones.
Yangho Park performed “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. He stated in reference to choosing this particular poem, “Although I’m not African-American, I still feel the same push from my mother to do great. Although things get hard, I still do great.”
