The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Council approves Toni Morrison Day
Starting Feb. 18, the birthday of one of America’s great writers, will be known as Toni Morrison Day in Lorain.
On Sept. 3, City Council adopted the resolution commemorating and memorializing the Lorain native, whose novels led to the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993.
She was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on Feb. 18, 1931, in Lorain.
“Her books told powerful stories of black lives in America, from the time of slavery through modern days and have been sources of inspiration for our youth,” the resolution said.
Her novel “Beloved” won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award, while “Song of Solomon” had the distinction of being the first book by a black author chosen as a main selection of the Book of the Month Club since Richard Wright’s “Native Son” 37 years before, the resolution said.
Morrison became the first black woman to win a Nobel Prize.
She received numerous honors including the National Humanities Medal in 2000, the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction in 2011 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented by President Barack Obama in 2012.
When she died Aug. 5, she left “a long legacy of perseverance, leadership and her untiring dedication to education,” the resolution said.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Pamela Carter and Councilman at-Large Mitch Fallis presented the resolution to Ken Brooks of Lorain, a nephew of Morrison’s.
“I just want to say it’s been an honor knowing you, first of all, and thank you for sharing your aunt with theworld,” Carter said. “She’s an awesome woman.”
“I’d like to say that I’m thankful and honored to accept this resolution for my aunt, Toni Morrison, and I’m sure she’d be thankful also,” Brooks said.
In reading commentary onMorrison’s work and life, one thing that is striking in her literary work is the theme of love, Fallis said.
“That concept had profound positive impacts on the folks that received it,” he said. “So, I’m reminded and challenged, and Iwould ask you all, to extend love to your fellow neighbors when maybe it’s not the easiest thing to do.
“By doing that, we can continue the legacy, in a small way, of Toni Morrison.”
The city of Lorain also will create notification signs to post at the city lines to inform visitors that Lorain is Morrison’s hometown, said Mayor Joe Koziura.