Overdue

Hello friends. Recently, my book club read I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings, the first memoir of Maya Angelou. And what a timely read, once again. During the time that I was taking in what was on the pages, the world erupted – and rightfully so. But what was so telling about what I was reading and what was happening in current events, is that…well…not much has changed.

Angelou wrote about her time as a child, segregated from white people, working hard in her grandmother’s store, and eventually exploring the wider world – though not necessarily willingly. She wrote about her experience as a Black girl, and then a young Black woman. She wrote about her experience with sexual assault and the way she was advised to “be a woman now,” at the age of eight. She walks us through her past, from being shipped off to her grandmother with her brother, to the spotty (at best) relationship with her father, and to her growing understanding of her mother. Angelou wrote about the horrors of her past in a poignant and beautiful way that guides the reader through sadly, but clearly. My book club and I discussed a lot of “book club questions” that I could go into here, but I won’t because this book is much bigger than a small book club discussion. I was incredibly moved by her verse, her ability to weave sentences together that required me to read, read, and read again just to absorb completely the beauty of what she had said. I think I underlined something on every single page. The power of her words was striking, and it lead my book club into a discussion regarding the current events in our country, how we can help, and what we should do. As I sat and read her story, I found myself realizing how much I do not know.

At the end of our discussion, I went to my bookshelf and I counted the number of minority authors I had on it. I am ashamed to say that I had ten books written by minorities. I was appalled and angry with myself, because how could I? I promptly went onto Goodreads, did some research, and asked a few readerly friends some suggestions and then bought a bunch of books written by Black authors. I downloaded some e-books about anti-racism (because they were sold out everywhere). I resolved to add diversity into my bookshelf, because that is a small thing I can do to uplift minorities everywhere. I resolved to be educated about this topic, and because I am learning, I will leave it at that. I will, however, list some of the books that I purchased (please note that half of these are works of fiction):

The Dreamers, Imbolo Mbue

The Good Luck Girls, Charlotte Nicole Davis

The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin

Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson

Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging, Tessa McWatt

So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo

This diversity initiative that I am taking is long overdue. Though I already had several Black authors on my list of classics to read this year I have added more, replacing some of the other titles. I am adding more Angelou, because I have been incredibly moved by her and value her experiences. I want to know more. How I know more is by reading books, and so that is what I am going to do.

This post was not meant to be an analysis of I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings, but rather a connection between the past and present and how it brought things in to sharp focus for me. I hope that people continue to strive for knowledge and education, that they continue to read and write and post and protest and donate and all of the other things that are helpful to this movement.

go read something educational, folks.