[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 18 (Thursday, February 8, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNITION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY

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                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 8, 2001

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay 
tribute to the great work of the Department of English at Howard 
University. On February 15, 2001, the Department of English at Howard 
University is sponsoring its eighth annual Heart's Day Tribute, a day 
on which the Department annually commemorates its intellectual 
traditions. For a number of years, it has dedicated this special day to 
pay homage to those notable men and women who have contributed so 
richly to our lives. Past honorees have been writers Gwendolyn Brooks, 
Paule Marshall, Chinua Achebe, and James Baldwin. This year Heart's Day 
celebrates the work of one of the most provocative and most influential 
writers of the twentieth century--Amiri Baraka. As the leading voice of 
the Black Arts Movement, Baraka played a central role in helping to 
shape the parameters of a new cultural and intellectual rebirth. 
Through his brilliant essays, plays, poetry collections, and novels, he 
drove America to contemplate its deeper psyche. At the same time, he 
explored a world of rich redemptive black culture through such studies 
as Blues People (1963) and Black Music (1968). The Heart's Day 
tradition was inaugurated to support the Department's effort to 
complete funding for the Sterling A. Brown Endowed Chair. Professor 
Brown established the first formal study of African American literature 
in the academy. We salute Howard University and applaud them to 
continue to honor literary achievers.

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