Mississippi Artists Stand Up for Change

 

Oxford artists stand for change

ARTICLE |  | BY MADISON HILL

The Oxford community, along with cities around the world, including Sydney, Australia, Beijing and China, will stand as a symbol for peace.

On Sept. 24, a message of stainability will literally color the streets of Oxford during the internationally growing event, 100 Thousand Poets for Change.

The main idea of the global event is to promote political, environmental and social stainability in the form of art.
Poets, writers, artists and anyone willing will have the opportunity to contribute to the worldwide effort to encourage peace among mankind and between man and his environment.

The Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to add Oxford to the list of about 400 cities from 95 countries around the world that are taking part in the event.

The idea was brought in front of the board by creative writing graduate student Michael Shea, who said they are going to be passing out small poems.

“The poems themselves will have a message of promoting more peaceful living both here and at large and taking care of the community we live in environmentally,” he said.
Participating businesses, including High Point Coffee and Square Books, will have messages promoting stainability displayed on their sidewalks in chalk.

American poet, songwriter and environmental activist Michael Rothenberg founded 100 Thousand Poets for Change.

The University of North Carolina graduate said his idea is for each community participating to “create their own local event to express who they are locally.”

“It appears that transformation toward a more sustainable world is a major concern and could be a global guiding principle for this event,” said Rothenberg on his 100 Thousand Poets for Change web site.

Shea said that for Oxford, the event will bring poetry into the community and will also promote the idea of a peaceful community and a sustainable environment.

After approving the event proposal, Mayor Pat Patterson made only one request of Shea: “Do it right, do it neatly and come back and clean it up.”

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