Why I Write

I write to have a voice. Growing up I didn’t think anyone wrote about being a young black man in America. I stumbled upon the works of other men of color; James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, August Wilson, Greg Tate, Kevin Powell, to name a few. They gave me a voice to speak and to write. It was an affirmation for me to read about their trials and tribulations. These role models gave me permission to express my own struggles and strive. Writing became a way of nourishing me when the world drains my spirit. It is a baptism for my thoughts and dreamscapes.

I write because it is a way of expressing myself creatively. Once upon a time, I was an actor. Although I still consider myself an actor even though I haven’t performed in a production since early 2000. The theatre was my pulpit to display the myriad of colors that life can present. The stage was my canvas of sorts, now that canvas is a blank paper that I apply black ink . I love the feeling of looking at something I created, something that came out of me. It is like an audience applause , except it an audience of one, my soul/spirit.

Writing is a way to share the stories (factual and fictional) that went between my mother and her older sister as I sat under them being an eager audience. It is the images of my absentee father that loom in my mind years after his death as I try to understand the man he was. It is to honor the ancestors (personal and universal) that run through my veins. I envision being a modern day Griot passing on life lessons.

I put down my thoughts because as “black-folks” say “tell the truth and shame the devil.” Or If I tell “all-my-Bizness”, then it or no one else can hold it against me. When I write about being paranoid (BMP=Black Man Paranoia, more on that later), dysfunctional, and loved I am giving power to what has happened to me (and it is cheaper than a therapist). Writing becomes a healing process to the many demons that try to run amok in my life. It is the truth from my point of view (most writings are, right?), and I am sticking to it. Writing allows me to be sane. As Mr. Wright says, it’s a way of being free. Here’s to my freedom

February 2006