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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Rice University professor Kiese Laymon has been |
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named the recipient of a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship; and |
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WHEREAS, Widely known as "genius grants," the MacArthur |
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Fellowships acknowledge exceptional originality in creative |
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endeavors; each award carries an $800,000 stipend to be used |
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however the recipient wishes; the MacArthur Foundation lauded |
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Mr. Laymon's profound honesty in bearing witness to the myriad |
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forms of violence that mark the Black experience; and |
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WHEREAS, Kiese Laymon is the acclaimed author of the 2018 |
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bestseller Heavy: An American Memoir, as well as the novel Long |
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Division and the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and |
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Others in America; his writing has also appeared in the New York |
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Times, the Washington Post, and Vanity Fair, among other |
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publications; and |
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WHEREAS, In January 2022, Mr. Laymon joined the faculty at |
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Rice as the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of Creative Writing and |
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English; he previously taught at Vassar College and the University |
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of Mississippi; a Mississippi native, he founded the Catherine |
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Coleman Literary Arts and Justice Initiative at Jackson State |
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University to inspire youth and their parents to read, write, and |
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share their life stories; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Laymon holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin |
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College and a master of fine arts degree from Indiana University, |
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and he completed a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University; over |
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the years, his work has garnered numerous accolades; Heavy won the |
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2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and it was |
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named one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by the New York |
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Times and one of the 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance by |
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Time magazine; in addition, the audiobook, read by the author, was |
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named the Audible 2018 Audiobook of the Year; Long Division |
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received an NAACP Image Award; and |
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WHEREAS, Through his literary works and his commitment to |
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creative writing education, Kiese Laymon has enriched the lives of |
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innumerable people, causing them to reflect more deeply on the |
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power of personal expression, and he is truly deserving of this |
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prestigious honor; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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Legislature hereby congratulate Kiese Laymon on receiving a 2022 |
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MacArthur Fellowship and extend to him sincere best wishes for |
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continued success; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Mr. Laymon as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |