The Danger & Destiny of Black Ink
How Our Writing History Cultivated Black Literacy
I’ve been writing for days since I was 11. However, I didn’t realize my destiny to be a writer until I was 20. It was largely due to serious writing. The words of James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Ernest Gaines grew me up beyond the simple act of pen to paper and propelled me on past notes and journaling. The words of those authors read like life or death to me. The moment I began to read serious writing was the moment I decided to become serious about writing. 9 years later, writing has become a necessary and vital part of my being. Much like the words I fell in love with, it has become life or nothing else at all. When I reflect back on the words that changed my life, I realize it must’ve been life or death for the authors of those words in some way, too.
And it to a degree, it was.
It is hard to conceive that the free and simple act of writing was once punishable by death just 200 something years ago. However, looking back on our history, it proves to be resolute. I could never overlook the seriousness of a Black Writers' words, — even if it was fiction. For me, it meant that if the contents of their work were never made possible, they would have died with them never having been cultivated into the world we know as literacy. And that…
