Author and Jackson-native Kiese Laymon provided the Black History Month Keynote Presentation and read “Meager,” a chapter from his award-winning book “Heavy: An American Memoir.”
The African American Studies program at Mississippi State University sponsored the event Tuesday in the Old Main Academic Center.
Laymon attended Millsaps College and Jackson State University before he graduated from Oberlin College. He later received an MFA in fiction from Indiana University.
After spending 15 years in New York, Laymon returned to Mississippi and now serves as the Ottilie Schiling Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi.
As Laymon took the podium Tuesday night, he immediately expressed his love for the MSU women’s basketball team.
“They are my favorite team on earth,” Laymon said.
Laymon went on to describe his childhood and personal experiences he had endure with sexual assault. At 12 years old, he began to write about his experiences as a way of escape. These experiences included abuse and the racism he faced at a predominately white Catholic school.
Laymon said he dedicated this memoir to his mother who encouraged him to read and write from a young age.
He chose to read the chapter “Meager” during the presentation to relate to the younger audience visiting from Louisville High School.
“I was really happy to have the young people who read it be in the front row,” Laymon said. “That meant everything to me.”
Morgan Alexander, president of the Society of African American Studies on campus, said events like these are important to have beyond Black History Month.
“I think events like this are important because it gives people the power and the space to tell their own stories and connect with people and express our own experiences,” Alexander said.
Interim Director of African American Studies Donald Shaffer said he hopes attendees of the presentation were encouraged to continue these types of discussions beyond Black History Month.
“When the month of February ends, I hope that people are inspired and take away a sense of why this history is important and how it’s very much related to the history of America,” Shaffer said.