![]() ![]() I haven’t written about George Floyd but I remember I wrote “You Don’t Even Know Me: Stories and Poems About Boys,” years ago and the lead poem of that book is about a Black boy saying: ‘I sit in your class I play by the rules I’m young I’m fly I’m Black. I was allowed to be who I was on the page. I said it in the way that I write, and I thank God that I had professors who allowed me to stand in that space. ![]() We’re still having those same conversations. Because from the first time I started writing, even in college, I was saying Black Lives Matter. How did both of those influence “The Life I’m In?”Ī: Perhaps not in the ways that you might think. Q: The last time we talked for the 20th anniversary of “The Skin I’m In,” it was 2018 and before George Floyd, before the pandemic. I wanted them to know that those characters were still living and breathing and growing as you are. I was also writing it for people who have grown up on the earlier novel, and wanted to know what happened next. When I wrote this book (“The Life I’m In”) I was writing it for teens who are 14, teens who have read “The Skin I’m In” and ready for this book. And your auntie read this book and it’s been read and taught all over the country. ![]() I want to hold up “The Skin I’m In” and say you’re reading this book. Q: Who is the audience for this book? “The Skin I’m In” fans?Ī: I was looking for you all. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |