What Makes a Book “Appropriate” for School?
This is why I was stunned when I learned that a school district in Leander, Texas, had elected to remove my award-winning memoir, Ordinary Hazards, from their curriculum.
The Social Dilemma
I am, by nature, a self-confessed Luddite. I write the early drafts of all of my books on yellow lined pads, and only turn to the computer when it’s time to input the finished draft. I then print out the draft, and write my revisions and editorial notes on the hardcopy. Writing and/or editing on […]
Articulate, Anyone?
When I was young, I was often bullied for “talking white.” That’s the way my precise enunciation, robust vocabulary, and polished use of the English language were categorized by others in the Black community. At the other end of the racial spectrum, several white teachers questioned the authorship of my compositions because they were “too […]
Owning Our Words
The person currently occupying the White House has a penchant for spewing hate speech, as we have been reminded with his racist tweets suggesting that four outspoken Congresswomen, who happen to be people of color, should “go back to where they came from,” never mind that three of the four were, in fact, born right […]
High Tech, Low Tech, No Tech?
I bought a new car recently (blame the distracted driver who rear-ended me while I was at a full stop.) My new, certified used car is essentially a computer on wheels—not the replacement car I had in mind. However, of all the used cars the dealer had in stock, this one was in the right price-range. Turns out, […]