Lawson Inada Reads

It was billed as a poetry reading, and that it was, but we can't say it was a typical poetry reading.

For one thing, about 200 students, community members, and college staff showed up in the Nelson auditorium for a two hour program that most will long remember.

For another, there was a Northwest College jazz combo, featuring Ronnie Bedford, that provided the music which punctuated the readings. And then there were NWC English faculty Renee Dechert and Burt Bradley, who joined Lawson on stage to add a local perspective.

But finally there was Lawson, weaving poetry, autobiography, music, and memory into a narrative about pride in place, pride in culture, and pride in family. It was a narrative skillfully done, a subtle homily about the injustice which results from denying the fundamental human connections which transcend race and nationality to bind us.