COD's African-American Read-In Builds Connections and Community
Professor Cheryl Jackson, a guiding force behind College of DuPage's annual African-American Read-In, vividly recalls first hearing her colleague Deborah Adelman read from Langston Hughes' “Simple Stories.” Adelman knew the stories from her childhood – her father subscribed to the Chicago Defender, and her family discussed how Hughes' character Simple is not so simple. Jackson was struck by the common ground. “Deborah was a Jewish girl in Milwaukee, and I'm from a black Christian background, and our families were having the same conversations.”
Jackson says the Read-In is a space that brings people together. Professor and coordinator of Health Information Technology at COD, Jackson also has spent many years doing ministry through storytelling. In 2003, Irene O'Conner, who knew of Jackson's work as a storyteller, brought Jackson an announcement from the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English about the Read-In initiative. The very next day, Jackson, says, she saw a big sign - literally - calling for readers for an African-American Read-In at Governors State University where she was taking classes. That's when she knew she was hooked. She went back to O'Conner and they took the idea to the African Diaspora Committee. COD's first African-American Read-In had twenty-three readers and lasted for three hours!
The 2012 Read-In featured fifteen presenters, including numerous COD faculty and staff. There were readings and commentaries featuring Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and others. Students and faculty came and went during the two-hour event on the rhythm of class periods; faculty members circulated sign-in sheets; student groups clumped together. Audience members learned a little about life during segregation, a little about Duke Ellington's political views, a little about Gwendolyn Brooks' commitment to help children everywhere find poetry in their lives. Serendipity emerges in the program every year, according to Jackson: “In this year's read-in, there were very common themes - but none of this was planned.”
During the Read-In, there are slides showing the faces of the writers and artists as each presenter speaks. “We put a face on each selection for the students. Then the enthusiasm and passion of each presenter - how did this person touch me, or how did I start to listen to this music - sharing that personal meaning, that's what builds community,” says Jackson. “We get to hear people's stories in their own voices.”