African Americans | Page 13

Clifford N. Harris

Minnesotan Clifford N. Harris at a hospital for veterans. Harris developed lung problems from exposure to gas in World War I and from railroad work. He remained in the hospital for fifteen years and was released in 1942.

J. Otis Powell‽

J. Otis Powell‽, ca. 2014. Photograph by Eric Lorberer.

J. Otis Powell‽

J. Otis Powell‽, ca. 2014. Photograph by Eric Lorberer.

J. Otis Powell‽

J. Otis Powell‽, ca. 2014. Photograph by Eric Lorberer.

Waiting for a Spaceship

Cover art for Waiting for a Spaceship, by J. Otis Powell‽ (Spout Press, 2017).

Pieces of Sky

Cover art for Pieces of Sky, by J. Otis Powell‽ (Rain Taxi, 2014).

My Tongue has No Bone

Cover art for My Tongue has No Bone, by J. Otis Powell‽ (Porter Publishing, 2001).

Powell‽, J. Otis (1955–2017)

James Otis Powell (a.k.a. J. Otis Powell‽) was an influential Minnesota-based American spoken word poet. He was the founding producer of the award-winning Write On Radio! show at KFAI-FM in Minneapolis, an advisor for the Minnesota Spoken Word Association, a curator for Intermedia Arts, and a program director for the Loft Literary Center. He was also the recipient of numerous awards, including the Loft Creative Nonfiction Award, Jerome Foundation mid-career-artists grants, a Jerome Foundation travel-and-study grant, the Intermedia Arts Interdisciplinary McKnight fellowship, and the 2017 Sally Award at the Ordway Theater. The MN Spoken Word Association awarded Powell‽ its Urban Griot Innovator Award and inducted him into the MN Spoken Word Association Hall of Fame in 2009.