The 2008 African American Read-In was held Monday, February 4, 2008 from 11am-2pm at Common Grounds Coffee House at Millikin University. It was sponsored by the Long-Vanderburg Scholars, Black Student Union, English Department, and the Center for Multicultural Student Affairs. See the following news story published in the February 5, 2008 issue of the Herald & Review newspaper:
African-American Read-In at Millikin draws healthy crowd
By HUEY FREEMAN - H&R Staff Writer
DECATUR - A tall, slender young man wearing a bright green jacket stood near the platform as English assistant professor Anne Matthews read a moving poem about a famous slave uprising. Then Avrey Smith took his turn in front of the noontime crowd at Millikin University's Common Grounds cafe Monday.
The crowd, mostly students, had been listening to dozens of different readings of poems and stories by black authors. But unlike those who preceded him, Smith did not carry a book with him to the stage. Instead he sang a popular spiritual, which evoked an enthusiastic round of applause:
"Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home, when Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."
Smith, a freshman and aspiring professional singer, took part in an African-American Read-In, held at locations throughout the nation as part of Black History month.
Ngozi Onouri, a Millikin education instructor, said she considered the singing of the spiritual was one of the event's highlights. Onuri took her turn onstage, passionately reading "My Pa Was Never Slave," a poem about a slave who possessed inner freedom. "True slavery is slavery of the mind," Onouri said. "The remnants of slavery aren't physical. The remnants of slavery are psychological to me." Onouri said she enjoys coming to the read-in every year because it brings people from different backgrounds together to learn about how history affects them.
Debra Kay Ogden, a freshman studying to become a dance therapist, read "Dancing in the Wings," a children's book by Debbie Allen. It tells the story of a young girl who desperately wants to be a dancer, but believes she is too tall to have a chance. "That's me, because I dance," Ogden said. "I don't have big feet and I'm not tall. It's kind of opposite."
Overcoming limitations was a theme of the day. A student read "Salt in His Shoes," a children's book by Michael Jordan's mother, which tells how young Michael longed to grow taller. Ogden said she appreciated the event because it provided an opportunity for students to read to each other in public. "I like how the Millikin community is together," she said. "It doesn't matter what color you are. You can still read the work and they can still hear what they are saying through your voice."
DECATUR - A tall, slender young man wearing a bright green jacket stood near the platform as English assistant professor Anne Matthews read a moving poem about a famous slave uprising. Then Avrey Smith took his turn in front of the noontime crowd at Millikin University's Common Grounds cafe Monday.