Race and Writing — We’ve Been Here Before

It’s not often that I’m at a loss for words. Especially when it comes to sharing my thoughts through writing, I’m usually bursting with opinions and creative stories I want to share.

This time is different. I don’t have too much to say. As a black writer, I’ve purposely not written about race. I’m someone who has insisted that I be judged by the content I create without the expectation that content be rooted in race. I just want to tell stories and so when I did mention race, it was in opposition to feeling forced to mention it. They were pieces like the ones below:

My Black Writers — Let’s Stop Telling the Same StoriesWhy Do I Have to Write About Being BlackBeing Black Doesn’t Make Me Different

But re-reading these posts have brought me to a different realization; we need black stories more than ever. First, for the people within our own community. We need to be heard, to feel represented, to feel like we are controlling our own narratives and telling stories that reflect our truth and reality.

Then, for those outside of our community. You need to understand who we are. You need to know what’s important to us and read or see or hear the stories that have gotten us to this point. There’s no compassion without caring, and it’s clear that there are still far too many outside of our community who lack compassion.

And I’m not saying that all of the stories we tell need to be the same. What I’m saying is that there is a need for these stories to be clearly established from a black perspective.

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I’m hoping we can all find some common ground in our love for creating.

CRY

Race and Writing — We’ve Been Here Before was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.