I will be hosting a Book Signing party for The Stella Trilogy in two days, and the topic of my discussion will be Freedom. So you can imagine my excitement when I came across this quote. For me personally, it is not about rebelling against structure, for I live my life according to order and there are laws that govern me. However, this world is not a fair world. This world is not a free world. And as long as this world remains unfree, as a free woman, my very existence should always be in rebellion against it, lest I am a contradiction to my very self.
Albert Camus was born on November 7, 1913, in Mondavi, French Algeria. Camus became known for his political journalism, novels and essays during the 1940s. His best-known works, including The Stranger (1942) and The Plague (1947), are exemplars of absurdism (EC places imaginary question mark here). Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 and died on January 4, 1960, in Burgundy, France.
Aside from the renowned Phillis Wheatly, Lucy Terry is another black poet recognized as one of the first African American poets. Born in Africa, her village was raided when she was a girl and the institution of slavery brought her to America. She was sold to Ebenezer Wells of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Her one and only poem, “Bars Fight” is about the traumatic raid on her village by both white and Native Americans before her enslavement. As is one of her lines: “Eunice Allen see the Indians comeing….And hoped to save herself by running.”
Welcome back everyone, to another Writer’s Quote Wednesday segment, as hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading. Today, I draw inspiration from Zora Neale Hurston, a name I’ve been hearing a lot this week:
I’ve been reading this quote all week. Not because I’m a Hurston fan to that extent, but I have been studying her history pretty close (for a project I am not telling you about yet, don’t you just love secrets? lol hee hee )and this quote in particular keeps sticking out to me. There is so much here that I cannot begin to verbalize it all. In short, I’m at a place in my life where focus is priority. I feel really free right now with who I am. I would not say that I am content because to be content is to lose focus. Focus is loss when we think that we are where we are supposed to be and we stop striving. That said, I am not there yet; I would not say that I have reached my limit, I have a long way to go. But I do feel my faith is growing. Could be something in the air, a sense of urgency, or an alarm clock on my skin. In the meantime, I’ll just pull in the horizon like a fish net, and drape it around my shoulders.
I’ve actually ordered her book, which should be here pretty soon.
African American writer Ann Lane Petry is said to showcase the range of the black and white experience in her novels, short stories, and other works. The Street, her most famous novel (the one I’m anticipating to show up with the mail man on my doorstep) is said to be a social commentary on the despair of black urban life in the 1940s. Published in 1946, the novel sold 1.5 million copies and brought Petry to national attention as the first black woman writer to sell a million copies of her book.
Good advice. I would add that for me even just knowing where my story will END helps me to find my way to the beginning. Usually, if I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, then I can write the story.
The other day someone asked on kboards just what they ought to do if they knew where they wanted to END their story, but not where they wanted to START it from.
This is basically how I answered that question.
For me, a story is a little like a journey. It really helps if I know WHERE I want to start off from and WHERE I want to get to. It is kind of like that whole Google Quest map thing where in order to get directions you have to punch in BOTH locations to find out how to get from here to there, providing you don’t mind driving through that brand new school that was built last month and hasn’t made it’s way onto Google Quest yet.
So – if, as in your case, I just DON’T know where I am starting from – I’d probably just try and…
Good Morning Lovelies and welcome back to another segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday as hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading. This week I am quoting from Bernice McFadden:
“I write to breathe life back into memory and to remind African Americans of our rich and textured history.” – Bernice McFadden
I had to reread this quote a few times. I understood it well. I had to reread it to make sure they were not my own words. Its as if McFadden had found a way into my head. Maybe the ancestral blood that links our DNA pulled from the genetic instruction and spoke our hearts into words. Maybe she just heard it in my bones, but this is one of the many reasons why I write: “To breathe life back into memory and to remind African Americans of our rich and textured history.” The quote suggests there is something not living among us, something not honored, not recognized, not praised. It is my hope that my work can be part of the resurrection
BERNICE L. McFADDEN is the author of nine critically acclaimed novels including Sugar, Loving Donovan, Nowhere Is a Place, The Warmest December, Gathering of Waters (a New York Times Editors’ Choice and one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012), and Glorious, which was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award. She is a three-time Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist, as well as the recipient of three awards from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA). She lives in Brooklyn, New York. The Book of Harlan is her latest novel.
Welcome back everyone, to another Writer’s Quote Wednesday segment, as hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading. Now, you may have noticed when you peeked at your reader that there’s a very handsome man to stop by the blog. Well, yesterday this fine young man was blessed to see another year. His name is Moshe and he is my husband. For this Writer’s Quote Wednesday, I present this beautiful quote by Bob Marley in dedication to the love of my life. Marley summed it up so perfectly, as if having met us in the distant past and scribbled our heart into paper. I dedicate this entry to my “love bug” (with his Bob Marley looking hat on yall LOL):
EC’s Husband, Moshe Ysrayl.
“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colors seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.”
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That’s it for me this week. The quote was too long for the picture, but thanks to Colleen the wrap ups now just feature the links to the blogs instead of the photo with the quote. This means mine is not going to look awkward with all that wording during next weeks wrap-up …yayy (lol).
The PBS Blog 