NOVEMBER 18 - ROXANE GAYWriter (and self-proclaimed Ina Garten enthusiast) Roxane Gay is, perhaps, b
NOVEMBER 18 - ROXANE GAYWriter (and self-proclaimed Ina Garten enthusiast) Roxane Gay is, perhaps, best described in her own words, as she provided them in her recent acceptance speech for the 2015 Pen Center USA Freedom To Write Award:“I am often told that I am fearless, that I am brave, because I write, openly and unabashedly, about race and gender, sexuality, popular culture, sexual violence, the body, identity.“In truth, I am not fearless. I am terrified but I write anyway. I pretend no one is going to read my words and I try to make sense of this world that is so breathtaking and beautiful and complicated and hideous.“I allow myself to believe my perspective, how I choose to narrate the world, is as valuable as anyone else who chooses to do so. I allow myself to believe my life experiences have relevance. I allow myself to believe my voice matters in a world where as a woman, as a black woman, as a Haitian American woman, as a bisexual woman, I am told to remain silent in so many harmful ways.“Those who disagree with me, often on Twitter, call this arrogance and I am absolutely fine with that.“I refuse to accept that inequality or violence and suffering are things we must accept as facts of life as if we do not dare to want for better, for more. I see this world as it is but I refuse to accept this world as it is. In my writing, there is no room for complacency.“I write this way because I am, by luck of birth, afforded the freedom of expression as an inalienable right. There is often a lot of muddled talk about this freedom because far too many people do not realize that the freedom of expression does not exist in a vacuum. We have this freedom to write, to speak, to express ourselves as we choose, but we are never free from consequences. With such a powerful right comes a powerful responsibility to express ourselves carefully, thoughtfully, and to consider the reach and repercussions of what we say and do in the name of freedom.“As a writer, I take this responsibility as seriously as I embrace my right to express myself as I want. Sometimes I fall short but always, I try to live up to this responsibility. I try not to take the freedom of writing for granted.” -- source link
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