'I was sad that whoever banned Heavy[: An American Memoir] also banned the greatest fiction of Earth's history, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, but I thought I must have done something right.' -KieseLaymon, author
was banned. I spent two and a half years writing a book that educators and parents could use to discuss the differences between racism and unconscious bias. The book is about love and how children, in terms of their open-heartedness, can help rid the world of oppression, discrimination, and prejudice to become a collective group of heroes and heroines who engage in an affirmative, nonviolent change.
There are a lot of young writers today who are just so self-assured that they're just going to stand up and speak. When I was a young writer, the banning would make me want to shut down. But of course, today, I can't shut down because I tell the truth, I'm an artist, and I have a commitment to my craft and my own humanity more than anything else. If I had been a different kind of person, I would have quit, but I was born to tell stories and educate.
For self-care, I focus on my stories and my mental and physical wellness by taking walks in my neighborhood, epic baths with all of the salts and oils, and snuggling with my beloveds. I take time to be with my ancestors and thank them for all that they hold for me in my life.
This year, I'm having a ‘90s love affair with myself. Slow and present, limitless and non-digital. So in some ways, I have been not letting myself focus on all of the ways that these idiots want to distract us with their nonsense and fuckery. I ain't gonna let no hot mess of a human who don't even know they own history and light distract me from life's sweetness.”
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