Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 114

Listen to this: elders speak…

Remember when I told you I was interviewed by the Crown Heights Oral History Project?  Well, they're hosting a celebration next week that will feature some of the interviews they've recorded—I already had my portrait taken (!!)—and can't wait to hear the voices of some of the elders in our community.  If you're in NYC, I hope you'll stop by and support these impressive young women.

One Crazy Summer, Part 3

This final installment of my interview with Rita Williams-Garcia is a little different.  Take a look at this image and tell me what you see:

I first came across this image in the feminist gallery at the Brooklyn Museum; the following blurb explains how this needlework inspired a contemporary feminist artist, yet makes no mention of the presence of an enslaved black woman, and how HER unpaid domestic labor might have enabled the central white female figure to later have the leisure time needed ...

One Crazy Summer, Part 2

Welcome back!  I hope yesterday's segment inspired you to grab a copy of One Crazy Summer. If you haven't finished the book yet, watch out for a spoiler alert at the end of today's segment.  I can really identify with Rita Williams-Garcia's thoughts on the impact of "home training"—I grew up in the '70s, and never would have *dreamed* of contradicting my parents; yet by the time I had become a teen, I had no problem challenging some of my parents' decisions.  I can remember my father looking ...

One Crazy Summer, Part 1

Have you read One Crazy Summer yet?  If not, go get your copy now!  I guarantee you will want to share it with everyone you know.  OCS isn't just for children, either—I found the narrative to be daring, original, and compelling.  This week I'll be presenting a three-part interview with our featured author, Rita Williams-Garcia.  Enjoy!

1. In OCS, you give three young black girls the chance to be witnesses and participants during a pivotal moment in US history. Why choose these particular...

get ready for Rita!

Who needs fireworks when you've got a whole week with RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA!!  As soon as I read her latest novel, One Crazy Summer, I just knew I had to feature this author on my blog.  I did a quick search and found only a couple of online interviews, so I limited myself to THREE questions and Rita graciously agreed to share her insights with me.  We'll start with this short video I filmed last week following our NYPL panel: Re-Imagining the Past.  But come back every day this week and hear ...

fireworks

I confess: sometimes I don't pay close attention to US holidays.  Really, I don't pay close attention to any holiday outside of Christmas, but I do wear a red poppy for Remembrance Day in November.  Memorial Day weekend seems to be all about BBQs and shopping sprees and fireworks—and I do love fireworks, and may look for some tonight.  But the point of the holiday is to honor those who serve in the armed forces, the many veterans and war dead.  This morning I woke up to the news that at...

deciphering dreams

I wasn't present when my father passed away, and lately I've been having really strange dreams in which my father starts out healthy and robust then suddenly experiences a health crisis.  The dream ends just as I'm coming to his aid, of course.  A couple of nights ago I dreamt that my father was a kind of cyborg—he had wires and nozzles on his body that otherwise looked fit and whole.  We were in a house full of people, and as my father slid into crisis mode—one of his wires got caught on...

embarrassment & riches

It's supposed to read, "an embarrassment OF riches," of course, but I need to combine the two in order to sum up my experience at the Book Blogger Convention yesterday.  First of all, hats off to the ladies who organized the one-day event—I was very impressed with the afternoon panels that I attended: lots of smart people talking about content and marketing and ethics, every panel had the chance to take questions from the audience, and everyone stayed within the allotted time.  Plus we each l...

a taste of BEA

I think The Rejectionist summed it up best, but BEA is hard on an HSP (highly sensitive person) like myself.  Shmoozing and mingling and networking aren't my strengths, so I only lasted an hour at yesterday's Book Blogger reception.  I did get to meet some nice people, including author Melanie Hope Greenberg and author/blogger/radio host Lesley Etheridge-Gist.  I'll be on Lesley's show next weekend, and it was great to also meet Christopher Herz since we'd only talked via email and on...

tongue-tied

This morning I woke up thinking about Lilith and Homer, the primary black female characters in Marlon James' novel, The Book of Night Women.  I'd heard some grumbling about this book and likely wouldn't have picked it up on my own, but a former student from Jamaica sent it to me and I was craving a strong story in which I could lose myself.  I actually had three books on the go yesterday, which is highly unusual for me—I prefer to focus on one narrative at a time, but Book #1 was taking too l...