It sucks that Professor Morrison’s passing was the spark I needed to write for myself again, but I’d be a hypocrite considering her a role model and mentor while continuing to be so passive about my truest passion. I know I’m a damn good writer, because I wouldn’t have launched this project if I didn’t. I can’t be a writer if I, er, don’t write. The plainest truths are often redundant that way.
Read MoreThe second semester of my senior year, I signed up for African-American Literature from 1940 to the Prresent, and the assigned final project was for each student to develop his or her own African-American literary canon - the works we believed were most indicative of whatever we individually thought a black literary canon set out to achieve. My thesis was that the African-American literary canon details a quest for authenticity and self-honesty in the face of a power structure demanding assimilation and acquiescence.
Over two years later, I stand behind that thesis and the works I selected for my canon, but the internet is the internet, so I expect some disagreements on my picks. If you feel so inclined to let me know you disagree, the comments section is open for your convenience. Enjoy.
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