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 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...

Magnolia Literacy Project Spotlight: Lana Brown Series In "Home Coming", Poet Lana Brown, a native of historic Natchez, MS, recounts...

Magnolia Literacy Project Spotlight: Lana Brown Series A mother's influence never dies, as Natchez, MS poet, Lana Brown, illustrates in...

"Your Narrative Against Mine" is Part Two in Hannah Marie's poetry collection, Name Change. The collection addresses complexities...

"My Honest Poem" is Part One in Hannah Marie's poetry collection, Name Change. The collection addresses complexities associated with...

Magnolia Literacy Project Spotlight: Lana Brown Series Happy Women’s History Month! The impact of women in every space of life should...

This poem was motivated by Dickens' fondness for Stone Mountain and her conversations with two friends, African American war veterans,...

Hillman Frazier was a student at Jackson State College in May of 1970, when police officers opened fire on the campus. During protests...

When an important lesson was presented to LaWanda Dickens by her eleven-year-old daughter, she missed the point. Years later, she...