Brent Staples' essay was deeply tragic in only a few pages. When he recalled crossing the street and hearing all the car doors lock, it inspired such heavy sadness for me which is exactly what I imagine he was trying to do. It was such a powerful recollection because even though I am a white woman, I could imagine how much that broke his spirit as a human. In particular with this essay, I think it is vitally important to consider the perspective one brings to this essay. I am a white woman, and people are not afraid of me. My race and gender does not lend itself well to fear in modern American culture because of how people have been historically categorized and treated. This is not the case with Staples and I know he did an excellent job of showing the upset and outrage of being criminalized and stereotyped because even with my opposite race and gender, I cannot help but get angry with him as he tells his story. The purpose of this essay was to inspire sadness in order to motivate change, or perhaps awareness, and I do feel more prepared to be aware of what inspires fear and question it.
I loved this personal essay. I thought it was a well-told story that wove the child's, Ray Carver Junior's, personal experience together with his father's in a concise and almost unbiased manner. Throughout the text I was thinking that it read almost like an article. As a journalism major I know that one needs to write for newspapers and such based in fact and reports, not subjectively, and this resembled very factual work with short sentences and vivid descriptions. Carver wrote this in a way that made me feel like I was a child when he was child, and I was growing up as he was growing up, etc. His narrative grew less and less clueless as he aged and it resulted in a very accurate representation of getting older as I remember it. I liked the story as a depiction of American life in a difficult socioeconomic situation as well, and think it spoke a truth that would resonate emotionally with many people. It reminded of the non-fiction novel "Evicted" by Matthew Desm
Hello Sydney. I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honored to get connected with you as well as know you and about your interest in writing and tea. Very interesting essay on a Response to black men and Public space. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 39 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to Mumbai to work with us during your vacation time. I am sure with your interest in writing you will be able to capture the live stories in your words to come up with a book. I am also sure you will have a life changing experience. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you your family and friends also wishing you a blessed and a Christ centered rest of the year 2018.
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