| 1 | 1 | | 88R12963 BPG-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: A. Johnson of Harris H.R. No. 682 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, Rice University professor Kiese Laymon has been |
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| 7 | 7 | | named the recipient of a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship; and |
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| 8 | 8 | | WHEREAS, Widely known as "genius grants," the MacArthur |
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| 9 | 9 | | Fellowships acknowledge exceptional originality in creative |
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| 10 | 10 | | endeavors; each award carries an $800,000 stipend to be used |
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| 11 | 11 | | however the recipient wishes; the MacArthur Foundation lauded |
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| 12 | 12 | | Mr. Laymon's profound honesty in bearing witness to the myriad |
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| 13 | 13 | | forms of violence that mark the Black experience; and |
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| 14 | 14 | | WHEREAS, Kiese Laymon is the acclaimed author of the 2018 |
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| 15 | 15 | | bestseller Heavy: An American Memoir, as well as the novel Long |
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| 16 | 16 | | Division and the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and |
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| 17 | 17 | | Others in America; his writing has also appeared in the New York |
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| 18 | 18 | | Times, the Washington Post, and Vanity Fair, among other |
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| 19 | 19 | | publications; and |
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| 20 | 20 | | WHEREAS, In January 2022, Mr. Laymon joined the faculty at |
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| 21 | 21 | | Rice as the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of Creative Writing and |
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| 22 | 22 | | English; he previously taught at Vassar College and the University |
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| 23 | 23 | | of Mississippi; a Mississippi native, he founded the Catherine |
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| 24 | 24 | | Coleman Literary Arts and Justice Initiative at Jackson State |
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| 25 | 25 | | University to inspire youth and their parents to read, write, and |
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| 26 | 26 | | share their life stories; and |
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| 27 | 27 | | WHEREAS, Mr. Laymon holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin |
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| 28 | 28 | | College and a master of fine arts degree from Indiana University, |
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| 29 | 29 | | and he completed a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University; over |
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| 30 | 30 | | the years, his work has garnered numerous accolades; Heavy won the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and it was |
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| 32 | 32 | | named one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by the New York |
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| 33 | 33 | | Times and one of the 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance by |
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| 34 | 34 | | Time magazine; in addition, the audiobook, read by the author, was |
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| 35 | 35 | | named the Audible 2018 Audiobook of the Year; Long Division |
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| 36 | 36 | | received an NAACP Image Award; and |
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| 37 | 37 | | WHEREAS, Through his literary works and his commitment to |
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| 38 | 38 | | creative writing education, Kiese Laymon has enriched the lives of |
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| 39 | 39 | | innumerable people, causing them to reflect more deeply on the |
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| 40 | 40 | | power of personal expression, and he is truly deserving of this |
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| 41 | 41 | | prestigious honor; now, therefore, be it |
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| 42 | 42 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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| 43 | 43 | | Legislature hereby congratulate Kiese Laymon on receiving a 2022 |
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| 44 | 44 | | MacArthur Fellowship and extend to him sincere best wishes for |
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| 45 | 45 | | continued success; and, be it further |
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| 46 | 46 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 47 | 47 | | prepared for Mr. Laymon as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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| 48 | 48 | | House of Representatives. |
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