Credit https://joejencks.com/home/?page=home
Joe Jencks grew up in Rockford. He is the youngest of seven children. He said his family was always surrounded by music.
“I would crawl under the piano as a kid as a toddler,” he explained, “when other people were playing, I d find a little cubby under there in between the instruments the guitars, and the cello and the trombone and everything else that was under there, I d crawl in between them. And I would lay there and just listen to people make music.”
Jencks said that this was his safe space and the sound waves floating through his body brought him comfort.
Christopher D. Sims.
Credit Connie Kuntz
Sims is from the West Side of Rockford and first shared his poetic gifts onstage at Haskell Elementary School thanks to Dorothy Paige-Turner.
Rooted in Black joy and celebration, his poems wind through the landscapes of this country s past and present. He hopes they will inform, engage and entertain. Sims, who originally wrote rap and hip-hop lyrics, said his poetry has a bebop cadence. His poem Thinking About King: A Thesis-Poem On Leadership reflects on the years since Martin Luther King Jr. s passing.
Listen
Credit Spencer Tritt
Join us for an evening with a few of our favorite poetry pros from across northern Illinois. WNIJ’s
Poetically Yours host Yvonne Boose will lead a discussion with Karen Fullett-Christensen, Christopher D. Sims and Rhonda Parsons on writing poetry during a pandemic and tips they have if you are looking to turn your ideas into stanzas. Plus, our poets will share examples of their work live!
Learn more about these poets whose work has appeared on Poetically Yours Fridays at 12:31 p.m. and 6:18 p.m. on 89.5.
Karen Fullett-Christensen has been writing poetry and memory stories since high school, and credits two of her English teachers, Mr. Vespo and Mr. Brown, for their encouragement and support. She has self-published over 20 manuscripts. She is the current poet laureate for the city of Aurora. She was born and raised on the North Side of Chicago, in the Albany Park and Budlong Woods neighborhoods. She is a 1968 graduate of Mather High School and a 1972 grad
Kwanzaa is near, almost here.
December 26th thru January 1st
we burst into its purposeful
activities. In this season we
feel the presence of the Ancestors;
we remember their journeys, their struggles. We light seven candles during Kwanzaa s seven days to obey and adhere to each principle. Kwanzaa is not Christmas. Kwanzaa is not to focus on the outer but the inner. The black, red, green and gold holds the principle, the purpose together. Kwanzaa is an African inspired celebration to pause the nation so we honor what is whole, empowering. Black families gather in delight when it is Kwanzaa time. We build in the heart, we use the powers of the mind. We find our highest selves in Kwanzaa. This December 26th as we light the candles let s remember also the lost lives that won t be here to say “Hibara Gani?” As we struggle still for Black liberation let us know that Kwanzaa is for the building up of the African American nation. Teach Black children about Kwanzaa. Help them learn o