Lincoln Alexander
When Lincoln Alexander died on Oct. 19, 2012, he was honoured with a state funeral.
He deserved nothing less.
As Canada’s first Black Member of Parliament, a former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, and a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Alexander dedicated his life to his country.
Alexander was born on Jan. 21, 1922 in Toronto to Lincoln MacCauley Alexander Sr. and Mae Rose Royale. His mother was born in Jamaica, and his father was from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They met in Canada.
Alexander ‘s father was a sleeping car porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway and his mother was a maid.
Kiese Laymon
The University of Central Arkansas College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) will host author Kiese Laymon as an artist-in-residence Feb. 23-24.
On Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m., Laymon will host a public reading, interview and Q&A via Zoom with meeting ID number 831 0260 1516 and passcode 992840. Attendees can access the Zoom session here. Earlier that afternoon, Laymon will instruct a masterclass with UCA Master of Fine Arts students and participate in an informal Q&A with faculty, both via Zoom.
On Wednesday, Feb. 24, Laymon will host a craft talk and Q&A with students via Zoom.
Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi, who is known for his observant, often humorous work that delves into issues such as race and family, body and shame, poverty and place. He is the author of the award-winning “Heavy: An American Memoir,” the essay collection “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America” and the novel “Long Divisio
Cambridge Public Library to host Martin Luther King Day event
Community Content
Kiese Laymon, author of the award-winning memoir “Heavy: An American Memoir,” will be in conversation with Jesse McCarthy, an assistant professor at Harvard University, at the Cambridge Public Library’s 46th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at 7 p.m. on Jan. 14.
Laymon will speak as part of the library’s Our Path Forward series, which examines issues that “are important to the health of our democracy.” The program is co-sponsored by the mayor s office, city manager s office and the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.
Laymon’s “Heavy: An American Memoir” received the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the 2018 Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose and the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media. The memoir was named one of the “50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years” by The New York Times and was named