Monday, November 7, 2016

Cindy Reed Reps East St. Louis


On Thursday, November 3, Cindy Reed visited our "Culture, Politics & the Redmond Collection" and shared short narratives and poems, primarily concerning East St. Louis. She talked through aspects of the city, and mostly highlighted the point that so much of East St. Louis is about the people.


I've seen Cindy present and read before, but what made this time different was the concentrated focus on East St. Louis.  She knew that she was speaking to a group of students who've been studying the city and region in general for a few months now.


Notably, the diverse group of East St. Louis citizens whom Cindy mentioned during her presentation had hardly come up in our readings. She spent time, for instance, recalling her encounter with a black girl at Mello Freeze ice cream shop. Cindy talked about how she was so deeply curious about the girl's story and disposition, so she wrote a poem dedicated to the her.

We organized a reading by Eugene B. Redmond last month. And on last Thursday, this reading and presentation by Cindy Reed gave us a different view of East St. Louis from one of its vibrant and talented artist-scholars.

 



Related:
• Culture, Politics & the Redmond Collection

1 comment:

E Y Lyls said...

How awesome to prolifically impact your audience with profound memorable knowledge of a city that is a diamond in the ruff!