It's A Great Time to Speak Up

Sometimes, I look at my timeline on Twitter, and see authors, myself included, squeeing about new book covers, pleading with readers to buy/help promote books, discussing ways to hone one's skills and increase chances of getting published, etc. Usually, this is in the midst of tweets from other parts of the world where people are tweeting about the very real climate crisis, the very real revolutions going on in different parts of the planet, and the very real movements for social justice during one of the most critical times our collective human brain has witnessed to date. In case you missed it, we're teetering on a cusp right now. The decisions we make as a collective can really affect whether we survive. Seriously.

As I've written before, many, many voices and expressions are routinely muted while others are lifted in this society of ours. That's what the Occupy movement is all about. A handful of people make decisions about who gets to sit in the spotlight and how many thousands hold audience in the dark. A limited few perspectives get held up to the light, receive financial support, or are aggressively marketed and amplified. But you know what? We're not living in times where we can afford to wait for someone to give us the nod before we express our thoughts and opinions. One voice can and does make a difference. We've seen it time and again throughout history.

Things are changing--fast. There is access to new technology. Anyone can record and broadcast human rights violations and police brutality as they are happening. Thousands tweeted the eviction of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, despite Mayor Bloomberg's "media blackout." In fact, Occupy Wall Street has morphed into Occupy Our Homes -- taking back hundreds of thousands of empty, foreclosed homes in one of the highest periods of homelessness in this country, ever. Ebooks are widely accepted and read, and are available globally to anyone who has access to a reader, computer, or cell phone. Thoughts, ideas, and information are exchanged with lightning speed over the internet. The balance of power is totally shifting.

If ever there was a time it was more important for people to speak up, to not wait for someone else to provide validation, to throw their contribution into the ring to help shape the future of this little planet under siege, now is it.

Some of my friends have said to me, "Come on. It's not that bad. There are some really great publishers/filmmakers/singers, etc., doing great stuff, no?"

Yes, there are. But they're not the most visible or as widely publicized. And there are not enough of us to compensate for the tremendous imbalance in access and representation. I tell my friends, "If you think things are not 'really that bad,' you haven't been paying attention. Or you've been paying attention to the loudest, not necessarily the truest. Turn off mainstream media for a week and seek out other sources of news and information, then let's talk." Because guess what? We're not supposed to know how bad things are. If we did, we'd all be dropping everything to make it right. We'd unplug from the buying machine, and demand something different -- create something different.

Things are that bad. But the good news is that there is time for change. The U.N. Summit for Climate Change just took place in Durban, South Africa. There are scientists pleading with nations to take responsibility, to implement policies that will reverse some of the damage we've done to the planet, to reduce greenhouse emissions and help steer us toward another path -- a less destructive path. But the most powerful nations on the planet are, at best, not listening. At worse, they are flat out denying that climate change is even real, or even worser, putting the blame/responsibility squarely on the shoulders of poorer nations.

The message is: We don't have to change anything. Things are working fine the way they are. Don't worry your pretty little heads, we got this.

The problem is that things are not working fine for a huge majority of the planet. And that huge majority just happens to be mostly PoC, mostly women and children, and mostly working class.

So, yeah. Now is the time to speak up. Artists/writers/storytellers/musicians have, historically, helped shape the cultures and societies they've lived in. They've served as a voice and mirror for the people. They've entertained, educated, and enlightened.

Folks in positions of power are not about to give their power up. But the rest of us are not completely power-less. If someone won't help you put your book out, you can put it out yourself. These days, the production quality of independently published books is right on par with corporate publishers. Just make your book the very best piece of art you've ever created. Put your expression as an artist, a world citizen, as someone with something valuable to contribute, out there. Release your voice into the world, so that more and more perspectives are heard. Until there is a strong chorus, challenging the same tunes we keep hearing over and over again. Art that supports the status quo is akin to propaganda. Art that challenges and throws the status quo into a new light is creativity. It's dynamic love.

The audience always outnumbers the performers. Participate. And totally squee about books and promote them and buy them. But let's help get more voices out in the mix. It'll completely change the landscape. More people speaking up and putting their perspectives out there is the only thing that will create the kind of change we need right now.


"I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We've been taught that silence would save us, but it won't." -- Audre Lorde

"Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the now." -- Audre Lorde

"Say something!" -- Bob Marley

Still On Representation

From BBC.co.uk

This past weekend, I saw Stick Fly, a play produced by Alicia Keys, featuring Dule Hill, Mekhi Phifer, and Tracie Thoms. I can't say that I loved it, or that I even thought it was *good*, but I am absolutely glad I got to see it. Out of the literally hundreds of shows on Broadway, there are about *three* featuring (or written by) PoC.

As I mentioned, I wasn't crazy about some of the things in this play (for a show about family, I would have included mothers on the stage, and I would not have silenced a woman for speaking truth, but that's just me), but I truly appreciated this writer's humor, characterization, psychological depth, and frank dialogue on race dynamics, class, and colorism among the African-American elite. It's her perspective, her contribution, and I can respect that.

As I thought about it later, I wondered again, what it would be like to see more representations of PoC, in all our myriad expressions, on center screen, on the main stage, in the spotlight. How differently would we navigate life? What new possibilities would we conjure up? What new opportunities would we see that now elude us?

Even after multiple shining reviews in other cities, Stick Fly took almost six years to make it to Broadway for lack of funding and support. I thought about how many wonderful, brilliant stories there are out there that will never see the light of day because there is no financial backing for them. This story was not how I would have written a story about family, but it was a good story that deserved to be on stage -- on Broadway -- nonetheless. How many others are out there just like it, waiting for a producer's approval, an editor's nod, a bookstore's/reviewer's stamp? And how many will never get that nod because the person reading/viewing the story doesn't relate to it, or simply can't see themselves in it?

And then, this morning, I read this post on Zoetrope, about the "dead girl" look on some YA book covers, and I was reminded, once again, that the struggle for representation continues on all fronts.

But I was heartened by this BBC article about Indian youth wanting to see their own faces on stage. Whereas before, the preference was for white faces on the stage, young Indians now want to see their own images and values reflected back to them, in all their unique beauty and complexity. And the result is a uniquely Indian sound, exploding onto the Indie music scene.

History has shown us that independent thinkers/musicians/artists have paved the way for sweeping social and cultural change. I think we're in the midst of some of that same sweeping change here, too, with the balance of power shifting. It's exciting...like we're on the cusp of something very significant, very important. It's slow going, yes, but I'm in it for the long haul.

Reflection

Today's one of those reflection days for me. I just finished up with school-related activities for my kids and I'm now in that shell-shocked, bewildered "It's over?" place.

It's bittersweet. Even with all my complaining about how busy I am throughout the school year with kid-related events, writing, working, etc., I wouldn't have it any other way.

At the end of it all, when I'm doing the ultimate reflecting upon my life, I'm going to care less about how many books I've written and how many accolades I've garnered, than I am about how happy my loved ones are. And how they'll fare when I'm gone.

It's all about interacting with one another and the impressions we leave upon one another. Because it's through those impressions that we help shape ourselves and those we interact with. My writing has always been about that - about me shaping you with my words and you, in turn, shaping me with your response. And then again. That's how I've always thought I could change the world - one little interaction at a time.

That's probably why I'm a great candidate for independent publishing. I want that response so I can keep the creative flow unimpeded. I want an ongoing interaction where we elevate one another on the journey. If I keep getting stopped at the pass, neither of us will ever know what a (life-altering? Beautiful? Explosive?) exchange we could have had. Even the biggest wave has to start out as a little ripple, right?

This past year, I have begun to define "success" in my own terms. I've learned that it is pointless for me to seek the "success" others seek, or have achieved. And what that word means to me is very different than what it may mean to others. It's hard to keep your footing solidly on the path you create for yourself, but there is nothing more rewarding - that, I can guarantee.

Scary Penguins

Okay, so here's what sometimes happens:

A writer writes a book that takes many years. She writes a book like the one she would have wanted to read when she was a teenager. She wants a book that speaks to the real lives of children and teens. She knows there are holes out there on bookshelves and children and teens who are like she was are desperate for the Truth, desperate for someone to tell them what's really going on and maybe show them ways to look at it, ways to be in it, or to get out of it . . . but mostly show them that they are not alone or weird or alien.

She spends another few years finding an agent who connects with her work. They work together to find a perfect editor and publisher fit for both the book and the author. The book gets acquired by an editor and publisher who believe in the book and think it's an important addition to their list. Everyone celebrates. Much hard work goes into creating the cover, finding the perfect artist and designer, choosing the font, designing the pages, editing, editing again, proof-reading, copy-editing . . .

And just before you turn completely gray, the book makes it out into the world. There is more celebrating. You get great reviews, readers email you telling you how amazing it is to see a reflection of their realities within the pages of a book. That they know SOOO many others who will be relieved/grateful that a book like this exists. That we need more depictions out there of what REALLY EXISTS IN OUR WORLD for readers to see. That there are kids and teens out there who are desperate to know that they are natural, normal, beautiful, love-able, important, worthy, and deserving, JUST AS THEY ARE. And that they are not alone, even if their parents won't talk to them about anything, or if their parents aren't around, or if they simply have nowhere to turn to.

And then, someone, somewhere in a part of the country, decides that your book is immoral. That it could damage their kids and other people's kids. And, instead of making sure they keep the book away from their kids, they launch a campaign to keep the book away FROM ALL KIDS. They work hard to make sure the book is taken off library shelves, out of schools, and that authors who write those kinds of books are not allowed anywhere in the vicinity of the school or the library. They cancel school and library visits from these authors because they are "protecting the children."

At this point, you might be wondering why this post is entitled Scary Penguins. It is because of this story I read in the BBC News about a children's book, And Tango Makes Three, that has had the most ban requests. It is a book based on the true story of two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo who partnered together to hatch a baby penguin. The book has been banned because it is "anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group." (Aside: Excuse me, but anti-ethnic??? Could someone please tell me what ethnicity penguins usually are?)

This has nothing to do with protecting anyone. It is about fear. As Ellen Hopkins put it so beautifully in her manifesto, it is about fear of ideas. Fear of opening doors and asking questions and challenging status quos. Why not talk to your kids? Why not have a discussion? Why not use these books as starting points to actually interact with children and teens about important issues that they see all the time, all around them? Our kids know far more than we think they know. And if they're not talking to us about things, they're getting their information from other sources. Wouldn't you want to be part of that conversation?

Other books that have been banned in previous years are:
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
The Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle

There are more titles here.

Go buy a banned book today. And, even better, invite the author of a banned book to speak at your school or library.

ETA: More of my thoughts on book banning, as well as other Simon and Schuster authors such as Ellen Hopkins, are up here.