Dedication service honors late founding member of Griot Collective

JACKSON, Tenn. — One non-profit organization celebrates the life of their late co-founder.

“Rose approached me once when I was working for the metro forum newspaper at the time and she said “Let’s try to do a poetry group meeting once a month or something.” Crystal Coleman owned a bookstore downtown and she allowed us to use her bookstore one Friday a month to meet and that’s how we started,” said Bill Marable, president of The Griot Collective.

The Griot Collective of West Tennessee is an organization of writers.

On Friday evening, members of the organization and community took the time to honor the life of the late Rose Parrish.

“She loved east Jackson, she didn’t want to live anywhere else but in east Jackson on Berry Street. There was difficult things in east Jackson, as we all know, Rose didn’t see that. Rose saw goodness. So that’s why she would write good things about living in the hood,” said James Theus Jr, friend of Rose.

Parrish’s poetry reflected the life of those who lived in east Jackson and those she met while alive.

Members of The Griot Collective spoke and shared poetry about what Rose meant to them.

“Rose could’ve had a career in many things, poetry is one of them. Because she could’ve been standing on the level of all of those that we know about Maya Angelou, James Cherry, Bill Marable. They’re all good people with poem writing skills,” said Theus Jr.

Members and friends also shared kind words of her legacy in the community.

Inside of the T.R. White Sportsplex, Rose’s picture along with her biography and an original written poem will hang for those who want to learn more about her hard work.

For more local news, click here.