Today I’ve decided to share the profiles I’ve written of 3 Black women writers over the past several years. I love writing profiles because I’m interested in sharing the stories of Black women’s brilliance on their own terms, refusing stock narratives and hackneyed plots to describe their ascent. I want to describe the particularity of their gifts and personalities, and what makes each one distinct. I’m also deeply inspired by the work of other writers and artists. The decision to home in on their work is part of my own curatorial approach to living with the work of others. Where we pay attention, to whom and how, shapes our own lives. They help me see and understand the world and my/our places in it.
First, there was Gayl Jones
Then there was Jesmyn Ward
And Suzan Lori Parks
I’d also love to write profiles in the future of women who are no longer with us, like Mari Evans, Clementine Hunter, and Marita Bonner.
As I titled this post, I started with the word “profile” but mid word, I shifted it to “profiling” a pun on the term in African American Vernacular English. Profiling is a display of your style and elegance. Park of what I love about all of the writers above is that they have no hesitation about the exercise of their craft. The steely confidence they have to flex on the page is so beautiful to witness. To master your craft, to know how to execute, and to know that you know what you’re doing and to make sure the world knows you know what you’re doing? That’s the thing.
That’s the sauce right there. It’s why I love writing. It’s why I love writers. No shade to everyone else, but extra props to Black women because the way the world will have you think they dictate our purpose, after all we’ve been through as a people. I love the way the pen moves across the paper in a Black woman’s mind.
I just listened to your interview with Deeshaw and Kiese a couple days ago and searched for one of these essays but couldn’t access it. So grateful you share it here and others. 💜