Liberation and Power as a Black Writer

The older I get the more I am convinced that my ancestors speak through me. This does not mean I am special. In fact it is the opposite. It means that I am only who I am because of who I belong to, who I come from.

As a writer this means I produce what we now call “work” that is sometimes odd in shape or form. Work that does things you’re not supposed to do in professional writing, work that randomly ignores narrative expectations, addresses the reader in ways you’re taught not to; work that is unnecessarily positive or negative, dour or optimistic, work that calls on itself , quotes…