Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

by Crystal Smith Paul

Elise could mimic emotions she didn’t feel on command but had no ability to express the ones that were true.

Why had the White Hollywood icon given her fortune to the Black (“Black” being the key word) daughters of her costar in a sitcom that first aired almost fifty years ago?

The pain that you’ve been feeling can’t compare to the joy that’s coming.

With one’s attention turned outward, one forgets one’s own ability to harness understanding of the truth.

The world forced Negro girls to mature faster than anyone else; the ugliness in the world was inflicted upon them first.

“People can tell you they love you three times a day and still treat you any kind of way when it really comes down to it.”

She’d heard about the evil that made people mean for sport. It was that day she’d see it twice: Jim Crow had the power to possess.

When people don’t like themselves, it makes them mean. You understand?”