Sandra Proto's Blog - Posts Tagged "rockaway"

I met Jacqueline Pitts at a play performance that a mutual friend had directed and produced. I sat in front of Ms. Pitts and eavesdropped on her conversation (LOL). She was talking about a book that she had written. My ears are always perked for anything related to writing or the arts. Her name struck a bell. I remember seeing her name along with the title of her book on another mutual friend’s Facebook newsfeed. I turned around after her conversation and asked her was she the author of The Children of Wasafa. She said that she in fact was. We shared our relationship with both mutual friends because all of us were connected through Rockaway, Queens. I was a former resident—and she— a life-long resident of Rockaway. The friend who play that we attended was a former Deacon at one of the Baptist churches in Rockaway, the friend on Facebook, is a long time friend Ms. Pitts has known since they were both teenagers and is a Community Activist that I also worked with.

That night, we exchanged contact information and became instant friends who shared our research about the African-Americans in Rockaway.

Below is my long awaited interview with Ms. Pitts:

What sparked your interest in writing The Children of Wasafa?

I was concerned about gang violence in communities of African descent; that is perpetrated by young people who are of African descent, on others who are of African descent. I am also disturbed about mass incarceration which is fed in some measure by gang violence and the trades attached to it.

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http://sandraproto.blogspot.com/2015/...