Pearl Cleage, a favored and much respected author responded to a question often asked of writers: "When did she know that she was ready to write full-time?"
The time came, she responded, when she realized that she could could no longer create because all day long, someone else's voice had been inside her head.
I realize that the "voice" I hear drones on about "curriculum, best practices, data" leading me to the realization that I must respond to the other "voices" inside my head--those of the patient characters, waiting to be developed, the stories waiting to be told that surface, emerge and push past the din only to be quieted and silenced so that I can continue my "work."
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, October 25, 2010
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens,
And our houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans and waifs,
Our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay for the water we drink,
And our wood comes at a price.
(Lamentations 5:2-4, New King James Version)
And our houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans and waifs,
Our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay for the water we drink,
And our wood comes at a price.
(Lamentations 5:2-4, New King James Version)
Monday, October 11, 2010
"Waiting for Superman"
I went to see “Waiting for Superman” yesterday. I sat in the theater trying not to burst into tears seeing and hearing the desperation of the parents locked into dismal environments because of neighborhood school systems. The narrator and the prominently featured educators talked about the system, the union and how the interests of adults superseded the needs of students.
There was a sprinkling of sarcastic laughter in the theater to the labored response of a sixth grade student to a simple mental computation that put my teeth on edge and reinforced my belief that people just don't get that it is not the fault of the children or their parents that their academic preparation is so pitiful.
What was foremost in my mind was the question; how can we be so shortsighted that we don't realize the tie between the decline of the American education system and the decline of quality of life in America? With the exception of one white student from a privileged middle class background, the students featured in the movie who are most victimized by this system are black and brown. The educational pundits shared their views about what is wrong with education, but not one had the courage to verbalize that this decline was allowed to happen because of racism and narcisstic self-interest.
A friend shared a James Baldwin piece from 1967, that I've excerpted. It speaks to this feeling and echoes the sentiment of what I felt after watching that film. I've taken out references to the subject because I want you, the reader, to focus on the gravity of a situation that existed 43 years ago when these words written and that still exists TODAY.
Very few Americans... wish to believe that the American Negro situation is as desperate and dangerous as it is. Very few Americans... have the courage to recognize that the America of which they dream and boast is not the America in which the Negro lives. It is a country which the Negro has never seen. And this is not merely a matter of bad faith on the part of Americans. Bad faith, God knows, abounds, but there is something in the American dream sadder and more wistful than that.
What is really at question is the American way of life. What is really at question is whether Americans already have an identity or are still sufficiently flexible to achieve one. This is a painfully complicated question, for what now appears to be the American identity is really a bewildering and sometimes demoralizing blend of nostalgia and opportunism.[Baldwin]
When I read the above words, a day after viewing the film, I realized what had troubled me as I watched the screen and listened to spectator comments. In the movie, the question is posed: "Do we have the moral will and courage to reform this system? " We could parenthetically add to that question, "Do we have the moral will and courage to reform this system that we allowed to be criminally substandard because it wasn't OUR kids?
If you want to explore the Baldwin piece further, it is on "Books", New York Times on the Web, :Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White" - By JAMES BALDWIN April 9, 1967
There was a sprinkling of sarcastic laughter in the theater to the labored response of a sixth grade student to a simple mental computation that put my teeth on edge and reinforced my belief that people just don't get that it is not the fault of the children or their parents that their academic preparation is so pitiful.
What was foremost in my mind was the question; how can we be so shortsighted that we don't realize the tie between the decline of the American education system and the decline of quality of life in America? With the exception of one white student from a privileged middle class background, the students featured in the movie who are most victimized by this system are black and brown. The educational pundits shared their views about what is wrong with education, but not one had the courage to verbalize that this decline was allowed to happen because of racism and narcisstic self-interest.
A friend shared a James Baldwin piece from 1967, that I've excerpted. It speaks to this feeling and echoes the sentiment of what I felt after watching that film. I've taken out references to the subject because I want you, the reader, to focus on the gravity of a situation that existed 43 years ago when these words written and that still exists TODAY.
Very few Americans... wish to believe that the American Negro situation is as desperate and dangerous as it is. Very few Americans... have the courage to recognize that the America of which they dream and boast is not the America in which the Negro lives. It is a country which the Negro has never seen. And this is not merely a matter of bad faith on the part of Americans. Bad faith, God knows, abounds, but there is something in the American dream sadder and more wistful than that.
What is really at question is the American way of life. What is really at question is whether Americans already have an identity or are still sufficiently flexible to achieve one. This is a painfully complicated question, for what now appears to be the American identity is really a bewildering and sometimes demoralizing blend of nostalgia and opportunism.[Baldwin]
When I read the above words, a day after viewing the film, I realized what had troubled me as I watched the screen and listened to spectator comments. In the movie, the question is posed: "Do we have the moral will and courage to reform this system? " We could parenthetically add to that question, "Do we have the moral will and courage to reform this system that we allowed to be criminally substandard because it wasn't OUR kids?
If you want to explore the Baldwin piece further, it is on "Books", New York Times on the Web, :Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They're Anti-White" - By JAMES BALDWIN April 9, 1967
Friday, August 27, 2010
This little light of mine...
This weekend will mark the anniversary of the Katrina Hurricane. President Obama will speak in New Orleans and will in no doubt attempt to assuage the grief, anger and despair that still remains from the treatment New Orleanians received from our Federal government.
As we reflect on the challenges that still face the people of New Orleans, I was reminded of the fact that the people of Haiti are still suffering as well. A friend sent the following link which provides a tangible way to assist in Haiti. By buying a a light for yourself, you can also purchase one that will be sent to light up Haiti. www.bogolight.com
The notion of this simple gesture caused me to RAISE MY HEAD UP. Frequently, I find my head bowed from stress, fatigue and sometimes despair as a I contemplate my challenges and life demands.
- Will I ever live the full life that I seek?
- Will I make a contribution in this lifetime to make my world a better place?
- How can I help when I don't have enough time/energy/money for myself?
The notion that a simple FLASHLIGHT could make a difference really shined a light for me! It created a spark that I’m determined and inspired that I WILL do something to help someone (besides someone in my family) this year.
I think we [black women – mothers, all the family matriarchs, ME, TEACHERS!!!!] expend so much energy trying to help those closest to us that we don’t have enough energy left over for activism or ourselves.
What I plan to undertake going forward will enrich my spirit and subsequently give me the energy to write. I'll keep you posted!
I think we [black women – mothers, all the family matriarchs, ME, TEACHERS!!!!] expend so much energy trying to help those closest to us that we don’t have enough energy left over for activism or ourselves.
What I plan to undertake going forward will enrich my spirit and subsequently give me the energy to write. I'll keep you posted!
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