Mark Braboy
Blue&White Flash/Staff Writer
On April 12 and 13, Jackson State University honored the legacy of the late Medgar Evers with its 7th Annual Creative Arts Festival.
Presented by the Margaret Walker Center and the Mississippi Arts Commission, the two day event highlighted poetry/spoken word, visual arts, essay writing, and the performing arts. The keynote speakers were National Book Award winner, Jesmyn Ward and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Leonard Pitts.
The festival also featured works in different fields from students of Jackson State, Alcorn State, Mississippi University for Women, Milsaps College, and Hinds Community College.
The festival began in 2005 when the founder and former JSU professor, Janice K. Neal-Vincent was inspired by a trip to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn. After discussion and interest generated across the campus, the First Annual Spoken Word Creative Fest/Conference began.
“The Creative Arts Festival is one of the events that we do at the Margaret Walker Center. During her time as an English professor here at Jackson State she would have conferences like this,” said Robert Luckett, the host and director of the Margaret Walker Center.
He added: “She would bring incredible people to campus such as Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and other writers to the Jackson State campus. The aspiration of the Creative Arts festival is to try to reprise it and bring people like Leonard Pitts, Jesmyn Ward, our Jackson State students and other students from the regional area. Also to lift those students up in their own creative writing and so, fundamentally, it’s a student conference.”
The festival began with the panel discussion, “Arts and Activism: The Legacy of Medgar Evers” by Evers’ niece Courtney Cockrell, Ward, Pitts, and Joan Mulholland, one of the original Freedom Riders. Topics discussed included what inspires them as a writer, how the creative arts have been devalued in the public school system and what should be done about it, the responsibility of the arts to counter race and political issues, and the connection between art and social activism.
Pitts said: “We’re here to talk about the arts and social activism and I think that’s a misconception and I think it should be properly understood that the arts are social activism.”
Ward said: “I really enjoyed coming to Jackson State. It was my first time here and everyone was so kind, gracious and welcoming. People were really engaged and it gives me new hope for the future of writing and creative art in general because I see that there’s a new generation here that’s coming up that’s just as invested in speaking and sharing their vision for the world.”
On Saturday, the festival continued with concurrent sessions of the student panelists and faculty moderators when students presented their works from the different fields of creative arts and writings.
Some of the most notable presentations were on the impact of women during the Civil Rights Movement, spoken word poetry about the legacy of Medgar Evers, and AIDS/HIV awareness in the media.
In the afternoon, poet and music scholar, Charlie Braxton presented a special presentation on the history of Mississippi Funk entitled, “From the Gut to the Butt: Looking at the History of Mississippi Funk.” Guests were greeted with BBQ, slideshow, and music, courtesy of Braxton and DJ Young Venom showcasing the history of Mississippi Funk music and its global/cultural influence.
The discussion panel included several founding members of funk bands such as Sho’Nuff and Natural High and they reflected on the history of the funk music scene in Mississippi, the end of the funk era, their beginnings at Jackson State, and analyzed several of their songs.
Students seemed to appreciate the event.
“I think the event was very inspiring and an eye opener for the students and other universities that attended this program. Overall, I enjoyed being here and volunteering here,” said Carmen Henson, a senior English major from Jackson, Miss.
The event culminated with a closing address from Ward and the presentation of awards for the $1,000 essay competition. Nubia Johnson, a junior English major from Jackson, Miss., was the winner.
“I really enjoyed this experience and I had a lot of insightful information doing this paper. It allowed me to connect with Ida B. Wells in a more introspective literary way and I am just appreciative of this experience. I felt exuberated when I won my award,” said Johnson.
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