The Life of Lee

I read "The Coming," and was transformed mentally. My approach to my way of thinking seemed to have matured. But I'm about to experience a new change. A lifestyle warp as I continue to read "Between the World and Me." Coates discusses an issue that I, we all have thought of. The American Dream. But he tells the reader that not only does this dream not belong to people of color, but neither do their bodies. Our bodies are not our own. That's a powerful statement. But I unfortunately understand. And maybe that's the Dream for Black people: that we will take back what was taken from us. But I see it differently. We own our bodies because their belong to us, but we are less receptive of the bruises on our brand, skin, hearts. And we have been so terribly assaulted for so long that we don't even recognize our flesh. We actually in some cases willingly give it away. Nevertheless they have always been ours. What white Supremacy was able to take from of was ...

Writing exposes the skeleton of a person. Ink strips meat from the bones, and presents a hollow shell that allows us to see the soul truth hidden under the fallacy of skin worn to protect ourselves. We spend our lives proving this external view exemplifies the “real me” to others gullible enough to believe. We become so good that we eventually con ourselves. My first portfolio focuses on answering the question, “Why hide who I am?” This is an inquiry I’ve dealt with for most of my life, the reason I started writing in the first place. I have since ripped apart my body and mangled my mind to solve the issue, and in doing so, I found I wasn’t concealing truth, but rather blind to it. And now I wonder is this issue of self was bigger than individual struggle, and a greater part of my ethical struggle? Is this problem relevant because of my African American past? I am afraid to connect to my ancestors because I know that the energy of oppression is still battling within the ideals of freed...