LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring the lifetime achievements of Askia M.
Toure to be celebrated at the Harlem Fair on July 17-18, 2015

WHEREAS, It is the practice of this Legislative Body to honor and recog-
nize those individuals whose commitment and creative talents contribute
to the cultural enrichment of their communities and of the entire State
of New York; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor the
lifetime achievements of Askia M. Toure to be celebrated at the Harlem
Fair on July 17-18, 2015; and
WHEREAS, Askia M. Toure, renowned poet and an honored son of Harlem,
is one of the founding patriarchs of the Black Arts Movement; he gave
vital energy and support to the Civil Rights Movement and the Human
Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s; and
WHEREAS, This Black Arts Movement created a geyser of poets, novel-
ists, playwrights, musicians, visual artists, and institutions almost
fifty years after the Harlem Renaissance (1924-1929); the poetry, plays,
music and art of this era was at the forefront of the Dr. Martin Luther
King-led desegregation activism, and Malcolm X's call for liberation and
self-determination; and
WHEREAS, Askia M. Toure, a United States Air Force veteran, is the
model poet-activist; he follows the paradigm set by his mentor, Langston
Hughes, and his soul-stirring recitations of his poems at community
events in Harlem and other communities in metropolitan New York invoked
a popular demand for justice and liberation; and
WHEREAS, Born in Raleigh, North Carolina and raised in Dayton, Ohio,
Askia M. Toure moved to Harlem in 1959; he studied at the Art Student
League and joined the Umbra Poets, a collective of young black writers
based in Manhattan's Lower East Side; and
WHEREAS, Askia M. Toure became one of the luminaries of the Black Arts
Movement known for his uncompromising commitment to the liberation of
Africans at home and abroad; his aim was to first liberate himself, to
discover and assert his own identity, and to heal from the psycho-spiri-
tual, soul-deep wounds of self-hate; and
WHEREAS, Furthermore, his poetry, essays, workshops, and speeches
reflected to the masses the reparative wholeness of culture and the
vital necessity of its political totality in the African American commu-
nity; and
WHEREAS, In 1962, Askia M. Toure was appointed the illustrator of
UMBRA MAGAZINE, served on the staff of LIBERATOR MAGAZINE, and wrote
articles for FREEDOMWAYS, which was the leading African American theore-
tical, political and cultural journal of the 1960s to 1980s; and
WHEREAS, A steadfast advocate to defeat injustice, Askia M. Toure
soldiered in the Civil Rights and Human Rights Movements; he was a
member of the Atlanta, Georgia Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) and the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) in Mississippi in
1964, serving on its flagship, Black America; and
WHEREAS, In 1965, Askia M. Toure helped co-author SNCC's Black Power
position paper, a document steeped in the theme of self-determination,
which advocated for organizing community-controlled political groups
throughout the United States; and
WHEREAS, When he returned to Harlem in 1965, this esteemed man founded
the AFRO WORLD NEWSPAPER with another luminary of the Black Arts Move-
ment, poet-activist Larry Neal; the first issue of the newspaper was
published a week after the assassination of Malcolm X, whose teachings
had a profound influence on both writers; and

WHEREAS, In addition, Askia M. Toure also organized the Harlem-based
Uptown Youth Conference, a "No Justice No Peace" rally that covered
several blocks; he was among the many artist-activists who educated the
youth with conscious-raising music, poetry, plays, speeches, and dance;
and
WHEREAS, Askia M. Toure became the associate editor of BLACK DIALOG,
and afterwards, editor-in-chief of the JOURNAL OF BLACK POETRY which
emerged from BLACK DIALOG; he also authored eight books and co-created
the Harlem-based Black Arts Repertory Theatre School which presented
plays in underdeveloped urban communities across America; and
WHEREAS, With an expansive career as an educator, Askia M. Toure has
given of his time and energies to the Community College of New York, the
John Oliver Killens Writers Workshop at Columbia University, the Commu-
nity College of Philadelphia, San Francisco State University, and
Artist-in-Residence at Ogunamaile Gallery in Boston, the city where he
now resides; and
WHEREAS, It is the intent of this Legislative Body to pay tribute to
those individuals who add strength, vigor and inspiration to the
cultural diversity and quality of life in the communities of the State
of New York; and
WHEREAS, It is most fitting that we take time to celebrate the arts of
our Nation, to honor our artists, and to express our appreciation to
everyone who patronizes the arts; and as we celebrate the arts, we cele-
brate and give thanks to our American freedom, the only atmosphere in
which artists can truly create and in which art is truly the expression
of the soul; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor the lifetime achievements of Askia M. Toure to be celebrated at
the Harlem Fair on July 17-18, 2015; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Askia M. Toure.