Call and Response
Here’s a reminder that I’m teaching an online class this Wednesday, October 19. Click here for details. The topic is “Starting and Finishing Stories.” It’s helpful for story writers of all kinds, including novelists, short story writers, playwrights, screenwriters, and, yes, even poets. The class is part two of a series but also offers new material for incoming students.
Also, a huge congratulations to the one and only Kiese Laymon, winner of a MacArthur Genius Grant, a friend and widely beloved writer! This feels like a win for all us. My writing and life is better for his mentorship and bruhhood. Kiese and I have interviewed each other in multiple venues. Perhaps one day we’ll have him in this space.
“You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” – Frederick Douglass
Occasionally, I share in this premium subscriber space writing I produced for other venues. Sometimes, the pieces are oldies from the era in my life before I declared myself a writer (or I had only just declared such). Or writing that is hard to find. Today’s essay is falls in the latter category. I have worked with a wonderful organization called Narrative 4, co-founded by the great Colum McCann. They support diverse students in their creative endeavors. I was asked to write about several classic American books with an eye towards broadening the analysis for the student readers. Sometimes you don’t know what you think until you write about it. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird as a young person, but I enjoyed discovering what I believed now based upon my life experience and research. This piece was written 18 months ago and only available to young people in Narrative 4’s program. I’m happy to share it here with you.
As always, thank you to the premium subscribers who make this newsletter possible, especially those who just signed up. I appreciate your support. This would be much harder to do without your help.
Without further ado, here is my “Call and Response”…
Call and Response: on the soft bigotry of America’s love for To Kill a Mockingbird
by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
One time I was pulled over by a policeman who said he would let me go on my way if I gave him money. I was in college at the time. I had a job, but not a job put a lot of cash in my pocket, so I was usually broke. When I told the officer I was broke, he said that I was lying and must have had something to give. I pulled out my wallet, and to my surprise, saw that I wasn’t completely shameful. I had a five-dollar bill. I was excited and told him that I would give him that. But he turned his nose up. Five dollars wasn’t worth his time. He walked to his police vehicle and drove away.
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