Bill Text: SC S1205 | 2017-2018 | 122nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Malachi Jones

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-05-01 - Introduced and adopted [S1205 Detail]

Download: South_Carolina-2017-S1205-Introduced.html

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A SENATE RESOLUTION

TO CONGRATULATE MALACHI JONES FOR WINNING A NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARD GOLD MEDAL.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate are pleased to recognize Malachi Jones for receiving the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards' highest honor, the Gold Medal Portfolio, from the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers; and

Whereas, a seventeen-year-old senior at Charleston County School of the Arts, Malachi Jones lives in rural Hollywood and grew up in Queens, New York; and

Whereas, this year, Jones competed against a record-breaking 346,000 entrants to become one of sixteen high school seniors to win the top prize. The award comes with a $10,000 scholarship and a trip to Carnegie Hall. Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have been presented to a number of legendary writers, including Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates, and Stephen King; and

Whereas, Jones's award-winning work, a collection of lyric essays and free-verse poems titled "Forget Us Not," revolves around his experience as a black teenager struggling with and coming to terms with his identity. The collection centers on the questions and judgment he has endured from both his white and black peers for not fitting the stereotypical "formula of a black male"; and

Whereas, Jones cites Kurt Vonnegut, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Raymond Carver, Toni Morrison, and James Baldwin as his greatest literary influences. He also credits his creative writing teachers and classmates for inspiring him on a daily basis; and

Whereas, Jones heads to Columbia University this fall, where he intends to study creative writing, English, history, or a combination of all three. A staff writer for the School of the Arts' student paper, he is considering a career in journalism; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate appreciate the pride and recognition that Malachi Jones has brought to his school, his community, and the State of South Carolina and look with great interest to hear of all further accomplishments by this talented young writer. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, congratulate Malachi Jones for winning a national Scholastic Art & Writing Award Gold Medal.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Malachi Jones.