I’m emotional (tears + snot nose). So, I’m the winner of the 2017 Gilda Award fo

I’m emotional (tears + snot nose). So, I’m the winner of the 2017 Gilda Award for my work in creative nonfiction by @kresgeartsdet I started writing when I was 6. Reading Rainbow was my shit. I entered my first contest then lost, but Levar Burton sent a cool rejection letter so I wasn’t going to stop. In my teen years, my father was never there. Mom was juggling 5 kids from different fathers and no help from family. I sought refuge in stories and other worlds. I was homeschooled, weird and thoughtful, more advanced than the kids my age. My friends were librarians. I’d sit in the library nook for hours and just read and dream of a life different from my own broken home. I started entering contests. Won a few. I loved Sci-Fi but noticed the lack of black heroines and writers. I set out to be the first and wrote my first novel in college at 17. It was rejected. I wrote 2 more novels and they were also rejected. I blamed it on my color and socioeconomic status. All the successful writers were white and female. There was no room for my fat, black ass. So I stopped and never wrote again… It was the toughest five years. Can you imagine not fulfilling your purpose? Then one day, when I almost admitted myself to a psych ward, I thought about my life. Like really dug into my core. My passions and talents. I asked myself, “who the fuck are you? Without your ex-husband? Your family? Your friends? Who are YOU?” The response: YOU are words. Stories. After that day, I’ve never tried to get rich or popular from writing. I was going to write for me. To uplift and to make change. If I had to write for free for ever and ever then that was what I was prepared to do. Now, here we are. Making waves This white photo represents purity, an awakening, a new beginning for me in my career to change the narrative. @Remy_me MUA: @Being_madinah Dress: @chubbycartwheels IG: Lvernon2000 www.beautyandthemuse.net -- source link

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