One Book One Community

I love my community. I live in beautiful Northwest Arkansas. This is a unique place to live, because it is not centered around one city but four. Then there are the smaller towns adjacent to those cities. I live in one of those. I grew up about an hour from my current residence, and I consider this entire region HOME. I am a Razorback. I spent 14 years working at a certain retailer that is based in the area. We are truly blessed that our area is thriving and growing. We have a world class art museum with FREE admission. The perks just seem to keep coming and I try to take advantage of them – especially when they are free.

The city of Fayetteville recently invited Angie Thomas, author of the bestseller The Hate U Give, for some One Book One Community events. There was a free screening of the movie, which I had already seen twice. There was also a speaking engagement where Angie was invited to talk about the book. I went with my kids and my best friend, a fellow English major. My BFF is also the one who read this book in one day then put it into my hands so I could share the experience.

This event moved to a larger venue and the auditorium appeared to be full. As we walked into the theater, it crossed my mind that there might be protesters or hecklers, but it was a lovely event. Angie received more than one standing ovation and wrapped the Q&A section by rapping for us. Oh – and – I cried. Several times during her presentation I was struck by the same heartbreak and anger that her book evokes. There was a lot of laughter too, but Angie knows how to hit a mama in the feelings.

Making the Political Personal

The subtitle of Angie’s presentation was “Making the Political Personal.” She talked about growing up in Mississippi and how she actually grew up in a city with skyscrapers instead of the backwoods. This was hilarious, because she was talking to a lot of Arkansans (many of whom do tend to be transplants,) and she mentioned that she “saw a lot of cows on the way in” because our airport is basically in the middle of farm country (near my house.) Angie did acknowledge that an Arkansas audience probably has a good understanding of what it feels like for people to make assumptions about you based on where you live. Arkansas catches a lot of flack, but we do have a saying here… “at least it’s not Mississippi.”

Angie talked about how we might have a political view but it’s not until something gets personal that most people take action. She gave several examples of the young men shot by police officers that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. You have to look at those images of those young men and imagine them as your own family members. That’s when it gets personal. Maybe that comes easier for me because I identify first and foremost as a mother. I also happen to be a white mom with a kid who is a person of color. I don’t see a “brown” kid when I look at my baby. I see a whole lot of myself. I also see a whole lot of fear and anxiety due to our current political and social climate. What can a mama do to try and alleviate those negative feelings?

I was also an “other” in high school. See here for one example (complete with photo) of my weirdness. And here I talk about being a metal head in high school. If the West Memphis Three events had taken place in my hometown, my friends and I would have been the ones getting life in prison for a crime someone else committed. That knowledge has stuck with me for my entire adult life. The fact that your life could be taken from you because of your appearance… and a band t-shirt is easy to remove, but one cannot change the color of their skin… it still felt very personal and it gave me a way to connect to people who, based solely on appearance, have little in common with me.

The Hate U Give Revisited

One of Angie’s stories that really struck me was about her mother as a young girl growing up in Jackson. She remembers distinctly hearing the shots fired that murdered Medgar Evers. His home is now a museum, and Angie grew up in that same neighborhood. Her retelling of her mother’s story brought to mind the scene from The Hate U Give where Starr and her siblings have to sit in the floor with the lights off and wait. Can you imagine feeling that level of threat in your own home? Can you imagine your kids being so well practiced at such a routine?

The private school in the book is more equated to college for Angie. Her experience was similar to that of Starr’s living a double life. Angie ties music into everything, and she would leave the house listening to hip-hop and by the time she pulled onto campus she was playing the Jonas Brothers.  It likely comes as NO surprise that she also had a real-life “friend” on whom she based the character Hailey. Naturally, real-life-Hailey’s response to the book was “OMG! Did someone really act like that?!” Yes. It was you. Ouch.

Canon

Y’all might remember when I waxed philosophical about the literary canon. During the Q&A portion of the event the host asked Angie how she feels about her book already being required reading in some schools. (There was also discussion of it being banned in others.) Angie disappointed me a little by not backing my “everybody should read Shakespeare” position, but I think that goes without saying. Everybody should read this book too. Reading a contemporary book about an actual teenager in teenage situations can get kids excited about reading. I think they should learn some valuable stuff from some of that old canon stuff, but they should also be given more leeway on more of their selections. Some kids are going to balk as soon as you say “required.” That could hurt books like The Hate U Give. But it is going to light a fire in so many more kids, and it is going to help sales of Jordans. I like the addition of The Hunger Games to the high school canon, but seeing contemporary realistic YA fiction making the cut gives me greater pleasure.

Seriously, if you still haven’t read this book, do it. Don’t watch the movie instead, watch it in addition to. There’s some interesting compare and contrast to do right there.

Your Personal Activism

Angie Thomas wants us to be activists. Political opinions are all well and good, but actions speak louder than words. My love language is “acts of service,” but I have never considered myself an activist. What is the thing that is so personal to me that I will walk past my fear and take action? When I picked up my Thich Nhat Hanh daily reader a few mornings ago, I saw this (emphasis mine):

“We think we need indignation in order to act. But even legitimate, righteous indignation isn’t enough. Our world doesn’t lack people who are willing to throw themselves into action! What we need are people who are capable of loving and not taking sides so that they can embrace the whole of reality.

We have to continue to practice mindfulness and reconciliation until we can see the bodies of hungry children as our own, until the pain in the bodies of all species is our own. Then we will have realized nondiscrimination, real love. Then we can look at all beings with the eyes of compassion, and we can do the real work of helping to alleviate suffering.”

Angie Thomas says things get personal when we see the victims of injustice as our own people. Thich Nhat Hanh wants us to see the hungry bodies as our own, but as someone who loves my children more than my own life, I read his sentence as telling me to see those hungry children as my own.

In this post, I talked about my experience as a teenager knowing other teens who were displaced, disowned, and homeless. I met these kids in Eureka Springs, a little haven of diversity and acceptance. Being a teenager in Eureka shaped a lot of my views. Recently, I watched every Netflix episode of Queer Eye and I saw articles about Jeremiah Harmon on American Idol. The visceral reaction I feel in response to people disowning their children for coming out as LGBTQ+ tells me that I have found my personal activism. I have my Free Mom Hugs t-shirt, and I will be making my first mom-ally appearance at Eureka Springs Diversity Weekend in a few days.

I am not traditionally the world’s biggest hugger, but I have been getting better at it – I think to prepare me for this. And I have always hugged my kids. I have also famously said that I don’t like kids, I like MY kids. My kids know that I love them NO MATTER WHAT. They know I will love them even if they kill someone, but they are under strict instruction not to do that. The sad reality that there are too many people who hold their ideals closer than they hold their kids… well, I have decided to take that personally.