A cycle of mundane activity and mindless conformity creates a recipe for self-sabotage. Poet, Lana Brown, examines the crippling impact...

In "I Can Move Mountains", poet, Lana Brown, engages her audience in an exploration of faith, spirituality, and resulting rewards. Brown...

Stagnation and complacency are central themes in Lana Brown's poem, "Shaded Destiny". Her details show the dire consequences of...

Referencing the origin, wisdom, and work of Black people, Lana Brown employs dark metaphors to attack systemic barriers that still lurk...

During an autumn walk on the land where her great grandmother was raised, Dickens observed nature's imagery while delighting in the...

By LaWanda Black Dickens, Magnolia Literacy Project Founder Memories of her grandfather, Reves Black, Sr., inspired LaWanda Dickens to...

On a Saturday morning, while sitting in a Natchez, Mississippi, nail salon waiting for a pedicure, Lana Brown, eagerly anticipated the...

Three decades after graduating from Jackson State University, Dickens writes about an experience as a faculty member at her alma mater,...

By Da’Maje Russell First-year student and Chemistry major at Jackson State University Honoring Black History Month 2023, Damaje Russell...

By Malea Price First-year student Music Technology major at Jackson State University Honoring Black History Month 2023, Malea Price...

By Karys Dove First-year student and Computer Science major at Jackson State University Honoring Black History Month 2023, Karys Dove...

By LaWanda Dickens Black History Month 2023 is extra special to hair artist, L. Lashley, owner of Salon Exclusive in Jackson,...

By LaWanda Dickens Hannah Marie, pictured above, is the author of Name Change: The Journey of Becoming Me. Natchez, Mississippi poet,...

Magnolia Literacy Project Spotlight: Lana Brown Series Poet, Lana Brown, writes often about her roots in historic Natchez, Mississippi....

In commemoration of the federal holiday, Juneteenth, Pam Johnson delivers a compelling appeal for Mississippi and the nation, "To pay...

Erica Barnes collaborated with her mentor, LaWanda Dickens, to write this occasional poem for The Magnolia Literacy Project's 2022...

Jackson resident, Jada Stewart, an eighth grade student at Blackburn Laboratory Middle School, attended The Magnolia Literacy Project’s...

Jackson resident, Alisson Mendez, a sixth grade student at Blackburn Laboratory Middle School, attended The Magnolia Literacy Project’s...

Jackson resident, MiAngel Gurule’, a sixth grade student at Blackburn Laboratory Middle School, attended The Magnolia Literacy Project’s...

Jackson resident, Lorri Bernard, an eighth grade student at Blackburn Laboratory Middle School, attended The Magnolia Literacy Project’s...