[By Goyland Williams]

From Kwansabas and invocations, to documenting
nearly 100,000 photographs, Eugene B. Redmond has been a force in the black
artistic, cultural, and literary world. As poet laureate of East St.
Louis, Redmond continues his role as a cultural icon of the city. His most
influential and prominent work Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry:
A Critical History, documents and captures the history of black poetry. Like
Drumvoices, Redmond’s cultural work continues to be an invaluable resource.