Jewel Rodgers is an American

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

poet who, as of 2025, serves as Nebraska State Poet. She is the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to fill the role. Rodgers lives in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. At the announcement of her selection in January 2025 as the state's official poet, Rodgers performed a spoken-word poem titled "Humble" at the Nebraska Capitol. Governor

Jim Pillen James Douglas Pillen (born December 31, 1955) is an American politician, veterinarian, and livestock producer serving as the 41st and current governor of Nebraska since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Pillen served on the University of ...

selected Rodgers from among the nominees after hearing her recite poetry. Rodgers said she intends to use the role as poet laureate to encourage young people to read, to make poetry accessible to all Nebraskans, and to promote other Nebraska authors and artists. Rogers appeared in the event "100 Years , 100 Women" at the

Park Avenue Armory The Park Avenue Armory, also known as the 7th Regiment Armory, is a historic armory for the U.S. Army National Guard at 643 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed in the Gothic Revival style ...

, an exhibition marking the anniversary of the

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its U.S. state, states from denying the Suffrage, right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recogni ...

. She works as a teaching artist with the Nebraska Writers Collective. Rodgers runs a group that seeks to create community spaces on vacant lots in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ...

. She attended

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Her father is football player

Johnny Rodgers Johnny Steven Rodgers (born July 5, 1951) is an American former professional football player. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and won the Heisman Trophy in 1972. Rodgers played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) w ...

References

Poets from Nebraska Writers from Omaha, Nebraska 21st-century American poets Poets laureate of Nebraska American spoken word artists 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{US-poet-stub