A million and one shout-outs to Anna J. Small Roseboro for yesterday's #VerseLove prompt. I suppose I never inquired about what writers shared my birth-month with me, but when I came across Alice Walker's name, I knew I'd have to work with her wisdom. I was a just-graduated senior in high school who, looking for the college years ahead, pulled my mother's copy of The Color Purple from a book shelf. I have vivid memories of my mom and neighbors reading this book and, upon seeing the movie in a theater, coming home raving about the performances. I believe I sat with the book for one day, and the words ran through me in a way no other book had ever done. I give Alice Walker total credit for why I majored in English and, upon working with Carol Boyce Davies, why I put myself on a particular trajectory with my teaching, writing, scholarship, and community work.
One of the reasons I cherish #verselove is the fact that I awake at 6 a.m. and have a present to unwrap - I never know what the challenge will be or where my mind will go. I'm just thankful to share February with Alice Walker and for the words she penned to page that have had a mantra-effect on my soul and well-being. I am grateful.
And I'm thinking about Janessa Siegel, Class of 2007, too. For years I taught The Color Purple in Kentucky, but it wasn't until she came my way as a student that I realized just how important this text was for high school students. It inspired her to spend every day of her senior year sharing history, leadership, passion, faith, and joy. My last year in the K-12 classroom was made more purple because of her.
Here's to blooming sunflowers.
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