Annual Civil Rights Conference

Call 402-441-7624 or email lchr@lincoln.ne.gov for details.

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Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022 and is winner of Yale's 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry.

The author of ten books of poetry, including the highly acclaimed, Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years, several plays and children's books, and two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, her many honors include the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Harjo delivered the 2021 Windham-Campbell Lecture at Yale, part of the virtual Windham-Campbell Prize Festival that year. That lecture was the basis for Catching the Light, published in 2022 by Yale University Press in the Why I Write series.

As a musician and performer, Harjo has produced seven award-winning music albums including her newest, I Pray for My Enemies. She served as Exec­u­tive Edi­tor of the anthol­o­gy When the Light of the World was Sub­dued, Our Songs Came Through — A Nor­ton Anthol­o­gy of Native Nations Poet­ry and the editor of Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, the companion anthology to her signature Poet Laureate project.

She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, served as Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and is the first Artist-in-Residence for Tulsa's Bob Dylan Center. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

joyharjo.com

John Harris

John Leonard Harris is a native of St. Louis Missouri who currently resides in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Harris is a dynamic keynote and conference speaker, award-winning writer, poet and actor. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia (Speech and Dramatic Arts, emphasis Radio-TV-Film Production) and his Master's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Education, emphasis Teaching and Learning).

Mr. Harris founded Encouragement Consulting Services through which he has provided workshops and training for over 20 years in the areas of: corporate culture, workplace diversity, leadership, motivation, personal and professional growth, organizational effectiveness, team building and employment (hiring, job search tools and techniques).

Mr. Harris has worked as a consultant, training partner and employee coach for TAG Consulting and Insignia Federal Group, both in Fairfax, Virginia. He has worked as a Subject Matter Expert for Continuum Employee Assistance Program (Lincoln, Nebraska) and Southern Glazer's Distributors (Dallas, Texas). He is a skilled consultant, employee coach, program developer and workshop facilitator. Mr. Harris always receives excellent reviews for his program design, delivery and content impact. His interactive and engaging style makes learning enjoyable for all participants.

Mr. Harris has been honored with his selection to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "Wall of Honor", the Melvin Jones Mentoring Award for his work with youth and the Millard T. Woods Award for his contributions to the community. His greatest achievement is his 37 year marriage to his wife, Charlene, and the raising of their four adult children (Preston, Shannon, JoAnna and John Jr.) They have four beautiful grandchildren (Eli, Legend, Owen, and Jacyxn Love).