Tressie McMillan Cottom: ‘I Want My Time Back’

The MacArthur fellow on her sudden new experience of consideration

A newly minted MacArthur Fellow, Tressie McMillan Cottom can’t help but notice how this whole “genius grant” changes the way people treat her: “People assume that my time is valuable. Just today someone offered to just ‘email [my] test results’ because they know that I am so busy.” Being busy isn’t new for Cottom. But having people notice it is.