Mar 13

AIN’T I A WOMAN?

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m introducing readers to women not easily found in history books. I hope you find her words as inspiring as I did. Abolitionist, Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was enslaved until she escaped in 1826. She devoted the rest of her life to speaking out against slavery and for equal rights for women. She helped free and formerly enslaved Blacks, relocate to western states. Here’s what she had to say in 1851, delivering a speech entitled “Ain’t I A Woman” in Akron Ohio at a Women’s Conference. “Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about? That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered […]
Mar 06

LET’S CELEBRATE WOMEN

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
When I started thinking about celebrating Women’s History Month and how to write a little something-something, I went on the internet to good old Google. I used other sources like cable, the radio, Y-tube, LinkedIn and Pinterest too. I started saving articles from the magazines and newspapers I read. Then I sorted through my book collection looking for books about women. I guess I’m old school because I still read newspapers and magazines. My book selection includes both the hardcover and paperback versions. Before long, I had amassed a collection of information about women that any researcher worth her weight in gold would love. And that was my problem. Too much information. Great if I was writing a thesis but way too much for a one-page post. Like most writers I love words. Whether they are my words or somebody else’s, I love ‘em like I birthed them. So it’s difficult for me eliminate them entirely as good editing requires. It wasn’t long before I realized writing this article was becoming a nightmare for me. Then I did what I usually do and waited for inspiration to help me. When that didn’t work, I did the other thing I usually […]
Feb 27

WHY I WROTE: DEATHS BY UNNATURAL CAUSES

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I tried to imagine waking up to whispering conversations between emergency medical personnel and the police declaring me dead. The second thing I hear is the static from police radios, sounds that seem to be coming from everywhere. How can that be? I’m in my own apartment, getting ready for another day of work. I did all the stuff I normally do to get ready for another day of work. The sun was just rising when I slipped out of bed. I rarely use an alarm clock. I keep my blinds open a little so I can see the golden light of the sunrise which always wakes me. I walk to the bathroom and turn on the shower. I leave it running a little because I love steamy showers. I walk down my short hallway to my cozy, little yellow kitchen to start breakfast of coffee, toast and my favorite scrambled cheese eggs. I don’t remember anything after that. Why are all these people here? Why does everyone think I’m dead? Who killed me? Am I really dead? How do I feel about all of this? I wanted to write a mystery novel that explored those questions. The book is […]
Feb 20

A HOT MESS?

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
President-elect Trump won a majority of the Electoral College votes but not the popular. So with a great deal of fascination, I’ve been watching media commentators do what they do best or worst depending on which side of the television you sit. Of particular interest to me was the goings’ on at President-elect Trump’s castle tower. Every day since the beginning of January if not earlier, it seemed like more and more of America’s out of touch but ultra-wealthy or infamous or wannabees came to see the king of the castle and to kiss his ring. Weirdly enough, President-elect Trump seemed to be hostile to folks that average Americans admired. He made no bones about his intense dislike bordering on hatred for Black presidents, captured military heroes, and Gold Star families. Recently the president elect added new folks to his full of crap list that included civil rights activists, A-list entertainers as well as Hollywood actors and actresses. Think President Obama, John Mac Cain, the Khans, John Lewis, Meryl and Alec as a partial list because I’m sure there’s more folks to be added. I was curious to see who would accept his invitation to perform at his inauguration. After […]
Feb 13

LOVER’S DAY RANT

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
Contacting Sam, our marriage counselor, was something I felt I had to do. I figured I should speak with him because I needed to know if Gilbert directly or indirectly mentioned his assault plans during any of his one-on-sessions with Sam. Gil had stopped attending our joint and his individual sessions with Sam, two weeks before the assault. I figured Sam owed me the truth because I was still his patient, while Gil wasn’t so I called him. He claimed that he couldn’t betray Gil’s confidence to confirm or deny my suspicions. I stopped attending his sessions after that phone call. I missed Gil at night when I was feeling particularly lonesome and didn’t have a warm body to snuggle against. I shared a ten-year history with the man but it was certainly over now. Gilbert saw to that the minute he let his fists do the talking for his heart. I’d like to tell you that I’ve found the most wonderful person in the world and that we’re happy, as hell living together but I can’t. I had a series of bad relationships after Gilbert. Although none were violent, I wouldn’t stand for that but none of them lasted […]
Jan 16

SWEET SARAH’S BLUEZ, WHY I WROTE IT

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
It was 1999. I was in graduate school when I first started to write Sweet Sarah’s Bluez. Watching a movie entitled The Education of Rita starring Michael Caine and Julie Walter was a requirement in one of the orientation classes I attended. The movie introduced an uneducated, lower-class working woman who is tired of her life as a hairdresser. She decides a higher education would lift her out of her boring job and her uneventful life. She applies for a college-level literature course and expects to gain admittance with barely a high school education. The movie traces Rita’s transformation from a nearly illiterate woman to thoughtful analyzing, well-read woman. Along her journey to earn a higher education, she meets a cold-hearted, alcoholic, literature professor with whom she falls in love. The professor helps her see the world in a critical way while she helps him view the world as kinder and warmer. The film ends with Rita completing the first in a series of English Literature courses. She decides to continue her education but along the way, she loses her lover the professor, her husband and her best friend. I wanted to write a romantic comedy story about a 40-year-old, […]
Dec 26

FAREWELL, PRESIDENT OBAMA

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
The picture you see is Senator Obama in Wisconsin at a presidential rally in 2008. He’s holding an original copy of my first edition of Mr. Jefferson’s Piano and Other Central Harlem Stories. My publisher at the time was so excited to meet him. She decided to show him my book. Rumor has it that he loved to read, but I don’t know if the Senator kept the copy or even read it if he did. My publishers wanted to advertise the picture on their site and claim he loved the book. I disagreed. I said I thought it crossed the boundary into false advertising. I worried about being sued and so I checked their site every day for the next two weeks. My publishers tried every which way but loose to convince me. They finally gave up on the idea of posting the picture.   Looking at the picture from eight years earlier, I think how much President Obama has changed. He looks so much younger in the picture. He has less gray hair and very little worry wrinkles across his forehead. Looking at him now, I guess eight years of being the father, the big daddy of our […]
Dec 19

Why I wrote FETCH

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I wrote FETCH, not too long after 9-11. On that day, I’d arrived at work around 8 in the morning. Performing my job as a senior property manager, I was reassigned to the main office at 100 Gold Street which was and still is six to seven blocks from Ground Zero. I remember thinking how beautiful the day was with its sunny, bright blue skies filled with fluffy, cotton white clouds. I worried about getting home before the crowds to vote in the Democratic runoff mayoral election for either former Public Advocate Mark Greene or Bronx Borough President Fernando (Freddie) Ferrer. Little did I know what tragedy was about to befall the adopted city I loved so much and I would be an eyewitness as well.   All of the scenes I wrote about from walking through the thick blizzard of heavy ash dust; the jammed hospital across the street from my office; the hordes of frightened people scurrying across the Brooklyn Bridge and to the extraordinary silence of the streets filled with bewildered, shell-shocked New Yorkers who are normally loud boisterous; I actually experienced on that horrid but fascinating day.   Most of the news stories I watched during […]
Dec 12

WE ALL BE DIFFERENT NOW!

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
We all be different now that Trump is to be our 45th President of these United States of America. I feel like I did when 9-11 happened. I was working four blocks away from ground zero. I watched as it happened. I felt so horrified, helpless, and unable to do anything to stop those planes from crashing into the towers, but I wanted to stop it. I wanted it to be a movie or a made-for-television movie that I could turn off at will. But it wasn’t a movie; it was real. Over three thousand souls died that day in New York City. The next day, 9-12, I felt sad, hopeless, and depressed as I tried to call friends and relatives to see if they were okay while they did the same to me. I wondered what would happen next to our country. What would happen next to the City?   Years ago, my car was broken into for the first time. I was in shock. At first, I couldn’t believe I had anything in my car that somebody could want badly enough to break out a window. Immediately, I felt shock, then I was stunned, and finally, I was […]
Nov 21

GIVING THANKS 2016

by B.L. in Other 0 comments
I’m writing this post without knowing who are our next sitting president will be. It’s too late to encourage people to vote as the election has already happened. What I hope is that our country will maintain the same freedoms we have always had or hope to have and that our Constitution with its amendments and our Bill of Rights guarantee. This year is especially important for us appreciate that the United States of America is still the most democratic country in the world. As one of its citizen, I still have the right to debate that fact, write about that fact and publish that fact and scream that fact from the rooftops of the big cities of the north; to the prairies of the west; the farmlands of the south and the coal mines of the east. I say thanks America for being the country you are. I realize sometime you can be loud, not always fair, opinionated and wrong, but in the end, you allow us citizens to be. Happy Thanksgiving America and may you have many more. Thanks for reading this. BL Wilson
Recent Posts
Most popular, Worth a look, Must read, Related posts, What the experts say, Q & A
Post Views