Allen University News January 24, 2015 Who Says You Can’t Use Poetry to Teach American Government! Allen University, as a precursor to the grand opening of its Langston Hughes Poetry Center and Library, hosted a poetry workshop to a fantastic group of children Saturday, January 24th, in the LHPC. The budding poets, who participated in the day’s activities, and their mothers, are members of the Columbia Chapter of the Jack and Jill of America Organization. Jack and Jill of America is a membership organization of mothers with children ages 2-19, dedicated to nurturing future African-American leaders by strengthening children through leadership development, volunteer service, philanthropic giving and civic duty. The multi-disciplinary poetry workshop geared toward 2nd-5th grades, was the means by which the group celebrated the founding of the Jack and Jill organization. American government was the theme, as well as learning a variety of poetic devices. The morning began with an interactive session during which the students were given information about the structure of America’s government: the Executive, Presidential, and Judicial branches. The children created poster- representations of how they viewed the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the American Flag, and the importance of being a good citizen. Following this session, the group generated a word bank and then the children wrote their poems. The workshops was extremely successful, the poems were great. Dr. Charlene Spearen, Allen University’s Poet-in-Residence, facilitated the workshop. This event was a great way for awaiting the grand opening of Allen University’s Langston Hughes Poetry Center and Library, which is scheduled for Saturday, January 31st. Seminars with Kwame Dawes and Nikky Finney will be the lead poets offering sessions with emerging and accomplished poets at 9:30 am and 1:00 pm. Workshops, presented by AU’s faculty will also be part of the stellar events celebrating the launch of the center. The day of writing, reading, and embracing the power of poetry will conclude with a public reception and reading by Dawes and Finney, on Open Mic, and music by saxophone player David Rodriguez. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.