Hallock and Armstrong Organize Free Poetry Event

full text of God's Trombones

(St. Petersburg, Fla.) February 5, 2009 – An event organized by Thomas Hallock, PhD, assistant professor of English, and Julie Artmstrong, PhD, associate professor of English, will bring religious and community leaders together to read from a collection of James Weldon Johnson poems while legendary St. Petersburg musician Buster Cooper performs trombone interludes.

This free event is in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the NAACP and takes place at Studio@620, 620 1st Ave. S, Monday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m.

The rousing poems on biblical themes in Johnson’s God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse will be performed by a list of well-known Tampa Bay leaders and artists. A Q&A session follows the performance. It is co-sponsored by the Studio@620, USF St. Petersburg and through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“God’s Trombones is a powerful work of poetry that deserves to be honored,” said Thomas Hallock, project coordinator and assistant professor of English at USFSP. “Particularly in light of his contribution as a native Floridian.”

Performers include:

•Bob Devin Jones, Studio@620

•Leroy Mitchell, actor

•John Conlon, USF St. Petersburg

Rev. Louis Murphy, Mt. Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church

•Aleshea Harris, actor

•Sharon Scott, actor

•James E. Tokley, poet laureate, City of Tampa

•Trenia Byrd Cox, NAACP

•Vikki Gaskin-Butler, USF St. Petersburg

Johnson, 1871-1938, had a prolific career as a writer, educator and activist. Born in Jacksonville, Fla., his widely regarded works include the novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912) and the song Lift Every Voice and Sing (also known as The Negro National Anthem), which he composed with his brother, Rosamond. Johnson served as secretary for the NAACP from 1916 to 1926, focusing his efforts on the fight against lynching. In addition to his work with the NAACP, he served as a diplomat in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and taught creative writing at Fisk University.

For more information, please contact Thomas Hallock at (727) 873-8000.