Hey folks, in the next legislative session, a State Senator (Al Melvin from district 26 in Southern Arizona) is going to sponsor a bill that would create an Arizona Poet Laureate position. An ENGLISH ONLY Poet Laureate.
In Arizona, poetry is written in Spanish, it is written in O'odham & Dine, English, and other languages both transplanted and native.
Creating a Poet Laureate position in "English Only" would put a government stamp on what is and isn't poetry with the borders of the Copper State. This cannot be allowed to happen.
State Senator Al Melvin can be reached here:
amelvin@azleg.gov. He also can be reached at:
almelvin3@gmail.com or his cell at 520.429.8083 (he published those himself on the form letter response from the azleg.gov e-mail).
He is expecting this to be a simple act that no one cares about.
Please forward this to anyone who might want to help in this fight. If this does come to a floor vote, we will be working on doing something at the State Capitol to protest, but more importantly, *you* will need to lobby your state represenatives and senators *directly*. Protests draw attention to the cause, but it takes direct action to affect change.
