Poet Shailja Patel, May 4

Poet Shailja Patel will read from her own works at a "Take Back the Night" rally against violence at 7 p.m., Friday, May 4, on the south lawn of Old Main, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. The event is free and open to the public.

According to Patel's website, www.shailja.com, she has performed her one-woman show, "Migritude," at events in the United States, Canada, Europe and Africa, and in excerpts on National Public Radio in the United States and BBC Radio in Great Britain and Africa. Her poems have been published worldwide, and she has won the Outwrite Poetry Prize and the Voices Of Our Nations Poetry Scholarship.

The event will also feature displays of student art and educational information about violence, including the "Clothesline Project."

"The Clothesline Project is a national campaign that encourages individuals to design t-shirts with personal messages that speak against violence," explained Whitney Meredith, a member of Students Against Sexism in Society who is organizing the event. "Take Back the Night is designed to empower all people to overcome violence, especially relationship and sexual violence. The process of creating a shirt denouncing violence can be very therapeutic."

The reading and other activities are co-sponsored by three student groups, Students Against Sexism in Society, and Student Health Advisory Group, and Alliance for Peaceful Action; and by the Knox College Office of Student Development.