Hey ladies!
I felt compelled to write this blog because of all the wonderful women of color I meet who write, but are afraid to call themselves a writer. Who is a writer? Who decides what makes you a writer or not? It’s pretty simple. If you write everyday (or almost everyday), you are a writer. That’s it. Stop letting other people’s narrow-minded definitions constrict you. No, you don’t have to be published in a major publication to call yourself a writer. No, you don’t have to have a degree in writing to call yourself a writer. No, you don’t have to be a traditionally published author to call yourself a writer. There are many types of writing out there: novels, articles, blogs, social media, poetry, insta-poetry, copy writing, grant writing, technical writing, digital content, infographics, business writing, medical writing, self-published books, ghostwriting, and the list goes on… It doesn’t matter what type of writing you do. If you write, you should be proud to call yourself a writer. This is 2018 and the definition for what constitutes a writer has changed a lot, especially due to technology. Writing for Instagram doesn’t make you any less of a writer than a person writing for the New York Times, as long as you have quality content. Self-publishing a book doesn’t make you any less of a writer than a person published through Harpercollins, as long as your writing is strong and you have had your work edited by a professional editor. The industry was not made for us and it’s still extremely difficult for us to find our way in and be accepted. Which is why, going the traditional route is not the only way to do things anymore. For those of you who have found success going the traditional route, more power to you. Keep diversifying the industry from the inside. For the rest of us, keep writing, putting your writing out for the world to see by any means necessary (blogs, smaller publications, social media, self-publishing, etc.), and owning your title as a writer. So, ladies, be proud of who you are. You are a writer. Own your skills. Own your narrative. Now, go out there and make the world a better place with your talent.
Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences with identifying as a writer and a woman of color.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. If you are in the Atlanta area, catch me on the Atlanta Beltline from Aug 8-10th at 2pm at The Bakery Atlanta teaching character design and development for comics along with Prime Vice Studios. See ya’ll there! :) Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page ?? Art by Loso F. Perez of Prime Vice Studios
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The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Dirty Girls Social Club is a funny, relatable tale of six Latin-American women, “the sucias” and how they help each other through life’s most critical moments. The women, Lauren, Sara, Amber, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Usnavys, know each other from their college days at Boston University. Years after college, their lives have taken completely different turns, but they continue to meet every year to catch up, show off, and spill tea about their lives. More importantly, they grow together as women and help each other through life. Whether it is marital issues, identity issue, financial issues, or cultural issues, these women are there for each other. It’s not all sunshine and roses, however. They do have issues amongst themselves like jealousy, competition, and fallouts, but they learn and grow from those and become closer in the end. This book is what womanhood is supposed to be about. Supporting each other through thick and thin and standing up for each other in the face of conflict. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez’ light, humorous tone makes this book a fun read. She reveals each woman’s life through her own first person perspective and intertwines it with all of the characters’ lives. Every woman needs to read this book. View all my reviews People say a lot of things and society tell us how we are supposed to live. When it comes to people of color, society usually doesn’t have anything good to say. As a writer/creative person of color, it is our job to breakdown the things society is telling us and find the truth. As an Asian-American woman, I dealt with the mentality of coming to the United States and achieving our goals by blending in and keeping White people around us comfortable and happy my whole life. Many of us come here on visas and have to stick to a job that we hate where we are undervalued and overworked for years just so we can get our green card. My father had to do this. In this type of situation, I completely understand why we as Asian-American immigrants want to stick to the “model minority” myth, and keep our head down so we can get through the rigorous, complicated, messy immigration system without diminishing our chances. Unfortunately, this mentality tends to stick with us long after the first generation. Even after we have our green cards and citizenships, we continue to live this way in the United States because society and culture tells us the it’s the only way to survive in America. As a writer and a creative person, it is impossible to succeed at your craft without letting go of this limited mentality. Just because society tells us that no matter what our citizenship papers say, we will never be “American” because of the way we look, doesn’t mean we have to believe it. I grew up with many people around me who told me I had to fit a certain mold to succeed in America. I grew up all around the world, so it was difficult for me to accept when people told me who I should be. For example, when they assumed I was good at math and would let them copy off my test or that they could walk all over me because I was supposed to be submissive. The more I learned about myself and about the world I lived in, the more frustrated I grew with these microaggressions. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I was a citizen of this country and this country belonged to me too. Just because I was born outside the country didn’t mean that it belonged to me any less. I had to start making a place for myself and stop letting myself be treated as a second class citizen or an outsider. Once I realized that this country belonged to me as much as anyone else, I realized how important my stories were for this country. There are other people out there who have had the same experiences and background as me in this country. If I had known about them and their stories, I would have been much more confident in my identity as a child and young adult. This is why I realized I needed to write and get my stories out. My culture and experiences need to be normalized in this country instead of exoticized. Other Asian-Americans and Indian-Americans need to know that this country belongs to them too. We don’t have to fall into racist systems and structures created in this country to keep people of color down and pitt people of color against each other. There are other ways to live. We can disrupt the status quo. We can start our own business. We can vocalize our experiences. We can create art based on our experiences. All of these are valid ways to exist. This doesn’t mean that we won’t experience racism. It just means that it will become harder for these systems to keep us down over time. When your boss over burdens and undervalues you at work, you can speak up or quit your job. There are plenty of jobs out there. If your professors/colleagues try to undervalue your art because it doesn’t suit their preconceived notions of what art is supposed to look like, stay confident and fight back. If people talk to you like you’re dumb just because you speak with an accent, speak up or stop entertaining them. They’re just upset that they can’t speak multiple languages like you. Yes, it takes a lot of work to change the way you live in a country that continuously tells you that you don’t belong. But, by refusing to accept what we are told, by refusing to accept the status quo, we can de-program ourselves and change the narrative around our existence. By refusing to bow down to the system, we can create better opportunities for our community and create better art. This is why I keep writing and encouraging women of color to own our narratives. It is by owning our narratives that we can begin changing the narratives around our race, culture, and society. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences with these issues as a woman writer of color.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Everything I Never Told You was Celeste Ng’s first novel and it was her first book that I read. Celeste Ng has a way of pulling the readers in until they are emotionally involved in the character’s lives. I felt her tugging at my heart strings as I read. I felt like I personally knew each character and understood what they were going through at a deep level. I loved the way she explored experiences of Asian-American men, women, and children living in a predominantly White society. She took me through the journey of her characters trying their hardest to fit in and often adopting White culture to pretend that they belong until the continued racist stereotypes and belittlement breaks their pretense. Despite exploring these heavy themes, Ng writes with a gentleness and subtlety that accurately reflects the subtle microaggressions people of color face in this country that we often learn to overlook, but that eventually become too much and lead us to a breaking point. I was hooked by the writing, the suspense, and the beautifully flawed characters in the book. I highly recommend it! View all my reviews One of the biggest barriers I face as a woman writer of color, is being undervalued for my skills. In the United States, women of color make less money in their fields compared to white men and women in the same positions. I have approached many clients who did not think that despite having an MFA in writing, my skills were worth paying for. I’ve had clients tell me that because a project was their idea, and that my writing was just a way to get their idea down in a useful format, they didn’t feel that I needed credit or compensation for my work. I’ve also experienced small and large companies offering me “internships” which were basically glorified “volunteer-ships.” It took me time to learn because all of these were things I wasn’t taught in school. I wasn’t taught that the freelance world will treat me differently for being a woman of color. I wasn’t taught that even after being a master of my craft, I would still be undervalued in the industry for it. Luckily, one of my professors did teach me about internships. She told me to be careful when applying for internships because they are often a way companies try to get free labor. The U.S. Department of Labor has strict guidelines as to what constitutes an internship. An internship cannot directly financially benefit a company and it cannot be work that it supposed to be done by a regular employee. Also, in the state of Georgia, an unpaid internship has to be for class credit. If you are doing an unpaid internship and it isn’t for class credit, you are just a volunteer in this state and a few other states around the U.S. I saw many of my classmates and friends get taken advantage of with these “internship” opportunities. These were things I had to learn the hard way. I’ll be honest with you, I have over $100,000 in student debt because of my MFA. For me, it was worth it because my undergrad degree was free and my MFA allows me to do things that you can’t do without an MFA. It took me some time to realize that my $100,000+ debt means that I am worth over $100,000. This degree was an investment in myself that increased my worth in the market and I can’t let anyone tell me otherwise. Now you don’t have to have a degree to be a writer, you just have to write everyday and get good at it. If you don’t have a degree, you have to calculate the number of years you have put into the writing profession to realize how much you are worth. Even if you are just beginning your writing career, don’t let clients low-ball you and squeeze more work out of you for less pay. It has taken me months to learn my worth. For some people it takes years. So, I consider myself lucky. I’m still trying to figure out how to show my worth to clients, but I have noticed that once I quote a price and stand firm on it, many of the cheaper clients disappear. This leaves more room for clients that do know my worth. In the beginning this means I get less clients, but over time it means I end up with a portfolio full of clients that all know my worth. It’s a work in progress but, knowing my worth as a professional keeps me from getting taken advantage of by clients or companies that offer unpaid “internships.” So please, ladies, don’t settle for clients who try to squeeze every last penny out of you and then some. Don’t let clients tell you that your job is not worth credit or compensation. Don’t let clients tell you that anyone can do your job because they can’t. That’s why you were hired. Writing is a skill that takes years to develop. Not everyone can do it well. Know your worth as a writer and a woman of color. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences within the industry as a woman writer of color.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 Also, if you are a writer of color living in the Atlanta area, come join us in this Facebook group!
How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life by Lilly Singh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Yes, I love Lilly Singh. It’s difficult not to love her. However, I have always admired her from afar not because of her funny videos, but because of her creativity and entrepreneurship. I’ll be honest, I was late to the game. I stumbled upon her videos when I was in college around 2007. I found some of them hilarious and some of them corny, but all extremely relatable. It’s Lilly Singh’s knack for being able to get people from all walks of life to relate to her stories that has contributed to her success. Also, being gorgeous helps. I was watching her rise when there weren’t any prominent South Asian women in the media, especially ones that were fun and entertaining. That is what drew me to her more than anything. I was curious how this young woman who came from the same background as me was able to become so famous and cool when I didn’t even know my people could be on T.V. in a non-stereotypical way. I was mesmerized by her success. This is why I had to read her book “How to Be a Bawse.” I immediately noticed her book had the same ADHD-like quality that her videos have where there is too much going on, too fast, all at the same time. This book is an extension of her personality. It’s vibrant, colorful, funny, relatable, and most importantly real. There are many motivational books out there, but I’m tired of reading books by White men who started with a small loan or a small business of $3 million dollars and became multi-millionaires or billionaires and now they’re telling us how they can make us rich. I crave books written by people of color, especially women of color like me, who were truly self-made. This book did not disappoint. Amidst the bold colors and graphics (she has a purpose behind them), are some real gems. She talks about letting go of fear, being yourself, investing in yourself, and being “the dumbest” person in the room and surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you. She doesn’t talk about how she can make you a millionaire in six months. She talks about making sacrifices, learning from your mistakes, and being clear about what you want in life. All this talk isn’t just fluff. She shares personal examples for all of these situations and how she learned these lessons herself the hard way. She has exercises at the end of each chapter to encourage you to evaluate yourself and take the necessary steps to change and succeed. This is a book I find myself going back to whenever I need a little pick-me-up or some quick focus and motivation to start my day. One of my favorite self-improvement books from a truly self-made Desi woman. I highly recommend it. View all my reviews 1. What is your profession? I am a blogger and freelance writer but also pursuing a career in higher education. 2. Why and how did you get into this profession? For me, writing has always been involved in my profession. Whether it has been tutoring, blogging, or writing in my diary, the art has always been right by my side. It’s what helps me get through the day and grasp an understanding of who I am. I am my true self when I write. 3. What did you hope to get out of this career as a professional and on a personal level? I want to make an impact with my writing. Meaning, I want someone to read my work and get a break through or it sparks a conversation. I want to be remembered as a writer who was not afraid to write about things others are sometimes scared to write about and discuss. 4. What is something unique you bring to the industry as a writer? My perspective and voice are what makes me unique as a writer. There aren’t that many Black plus size female writers sharing their experiences about their bodies. Because we are a rare tribe, I find it important to share and write my encounters so other women like me feel like they are not alone. 5. What do you wish you would have known about your profession before you started working in it? I wish I would have known that acquiring opportunities requires networking. Had I known this, I would have attended more conferences, lectures, workshops, etc. earlier in my career. 6. Do you feel you are compensated fairly for the work you do? Right now, I’m much more about gaining exposure as a freelancer so I’m not necessarily upset if I do and do not get compensated for my work. Ask me the same question in a few years and I’m sure my answer will have changed. 7. What are some obstacles you have faced in your profession as a woman of color? I find that it’s harder to get our foot in the door, specifically when submitting to publications. At times, I often feel that publications want to hear from women of color but don’t take a chance on them and their writing. Even if the subject matter is the same, everyone’s experiences are different. Why not have more than one perspective out there so the world sees multiple views? I think editors need to not make it so difficult for people, especially people of color, to share their work. 8. What are some opportunities you have come across in your profession as a woman of color? There are several opportunities such as being a contributor for The Mary Sue or writing for Blavity. These opportunities have come to me by being a part of a Facebook group that posts nothing but jobs for writers. I think every writer should be in a similar group for networking and job purposes. 9. What advice would you give to women of color who want to follow your career path? Don’t be afraid to share your story. It’s yours and no one else’s. It’s unique in spite of what people may say. Put your content out there, even if you just start with a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, etc. You never know who is reading, watching, or listening. 10. Anything else you would like to add. Be your authentic self, even if it makes other people uncomfortable. Thank you Dominique for sharing your wisdom and experience with us! You can find Dominique's work at www.dominiquesjohnson.com and follow her on Twitter @thedominiquesj If you have questions or thoughts about this interview please feel free leave a comment below.
You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing, my workshops, and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 Right before I attend a big event, I have a conversation with my mom or my husband about whether I should wear Indian clothes or Western clothes to the event. It takes a lot of time and some serious decision making to come to a conclusion based on practicality, representation, and the type of event it is. Sometimes, my husband asks me why I don’t rock a bindi like other Indian women on a regular basis and I just brush it off with “it’s just not me.”
Every time I put on a lengha, spend 3 hours trying to wear a sari, put a tika in my hair, or put a bindi on my forehead, I’m putting my culture on display. A culture I no longer actively live in. With that salwaar kurta, I’m also wearing my ancestors who created these traditional garbs centuries ago, I’m wearing my mother who is my most solid connection to home, I’m wearing my aunts who carry these traditions with grace, I’m wearing my cousins who wore their beautiful lenghas with pride as girls then marked their womanhood with their first sari, I’m wearing my father who instilled in me the ancient values with which these clothes were sewn together. While you might accessorize your outfit with shiny earrings and a cute clutch, I accessorize my anarkali with an ancient family legacy that can be traced down to the beginning of civilization and the responsibility of carrying that legacy with grace. So, yes I’m proud of where I come from and I don’t take it lightly. The next time you ask me why I don’t wear my traditional clothes more often, know what you are asking of me. You are asking me to carry thousands of years of culture and traditions on my back in a foreign land almost completely wiped clean of its own ancient cultures through genocide, so I can look cute at someone’s party. You are asking me to replace my Western clothing with an entire country of over a billion people of varying traditions and languages and be the spokesperson for all of them. I am the bridge. I belong to two cultures, but I don’t fully belong to any one culture. I have one leg of my salwar in America and the other in India. Sometimes I put on a pair of jeans and blend into American society to take the burden off of me. Other times I reveal the full depth of my identity by ripping of my jeans and replacing them with clothing sewn specifically for me by hands that hold ancient secrets in my place of birth. My true identity is not a secret. I just chose how much of myself to reveal and when based on my ability to carry the weight. As an immigrant, it is my burden to explain to others and validate for myself that I where I come from is just as important, if not more, than where I am going. I don’t take this responsibility lightly. There is nothing light about my mom’s pure silk turquoise sari with gold borders. There is nothing light about my beautiful pink embroidered lengha choli decorated with mirrors, beads, and ancient wisdom. Yes, my traditional clothes are beautiful to look at. I carry them as well as I can with all the pride with which I carry my culture. Maybe, in the future, I’ll start wearing a bindi more often when the burden and responsibility of carrying my ancestors on my body feels lighter. When I am able to pass this great responsibility down and share it with my future generations like my mother did with me. When the foundation of my bridge grows stronger to fully support the weight of the two worlds I carry. Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share your perspectives on this topic in the comments below. I’d love to hear your experiences with carrying the responsibility of being the bridge of multiple cultures. You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽
Click to set custom HTMLThe Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
My rating: 5 of 5 stars We all know Issa Rae’s comedy writing skills from her hit HBO show Insecure. Some of you may also know her from her original show on YouTube The MisAdventures of Awkward Black Girl. I knew she was a great comedy writer for the screen, but I didn’t know about her memoir writing skills. I was not disappointed to find that her memoir was just as funny, heartwarming, and eye-opening as her shows. Issa Rae’s collection of essays take us through a journey for what it was like growing up as an awkward black girl in America especially with immigrant parents. She talks about her lack of dance skills and hair issues growing up. Then she delves into some more emotional topics about her parents’ divorce and how she dealt with her father having a new woman in his life. My favorite essay in this book is “Connecting with Other Blacks” where she lists many stereotypes of black people and how she learned to engage with each type. Not only is she actively breaking down stereotypes in this piece using humor, but she is also showing that not all black people are the same and there are different ways to be black. This makes the book relatable to me as a person of color because it is part of our constant struggle to prove to others that we’re all individuals. As an immigrant, I also related to her experiences of going to visit her family in Senegal and growing up with two cultures. We all love Issa Rae, so I don’t have to tell you all how amazing this book is. Just go read it if you haven’t already. View all my reviews In May, I attended a writing conference where I asked the panel of agents if they thought that diversity was just a trend or if it was here to stay. There were about eight agents on the panel out of which two were people of color. Both of the agents of color admitted that diversity was a fad in the industry right now. They said they were afraid that the number of people of color that are being published will decline once the fad goes away, but that they were both working actively to make sure the trend continues long after the fad is gone. The rest of the agents who weren’t people of color all had the same response: “That’s something the older white people in the industry do, we’re different and we’re into diversity.”
I was disappointed to hear this response because instead of providing solutions or explaining what they are personally doing to challenge the lack of diversity in the industry, they blamed it on older white people and were convinced that they were not part of the problem. In fact, they made it sound like the lack of diversity problem was no longer a problem because of them. Yes, there are more writers of color being published now, but the growth is minuscule. The best way to get more writers of color in the publishing industry is to have more people of color working in the publishing industry. Today, there are only a handful of agents and editors of color working in the publishing houses. Having more agents of color accepting queries and willing to represent writers of color and having more editors of color willing to work on books with writers of color will increase the likelihood of more writers of color getting published. So how do you find these agents and editors of color? The truth is, it is not easy to find them. The way I found agents and editors of color is by attending writers conferences, other writing events in the community, and in grad school. All of these options are expensive. You can also go online and look through agent databases, like the Poets & Writers literary agents database, to find them. It is time consuming and requires a lot of research, but you can find them online. In other words, it isn’t impossible, but it is difficult to find agents of color to pitch to. Fortunately, there is a fairly new organization called People of Color in Publishing that was established in 2017. POC in Publishing was founded by professionals of color who actively work in the publishing industry like agents and editor and their mission is to diversify the industry. As they continue to build this organization, they are putting together resources for writers of color to help us get into the publishing world. If you are a person of color in the publishing industry, this is a great organization to be a part of. Of course POC in Publishing is just one organization with a big mission so it will take them time to grow and create change. Until then, the only thing we can do is keep writing our stories and owning our narratives. We can also encourage each other to work in the publishing houses to help create the change from inside. Thank you for reading! Please share your opinions on this topic with me in the comments below so we can continue this important discussion. You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing, my workshops, and my events. Next Wednesday’s blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories. Until then… Happy Writing! :) Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽 |
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