As an artist, I feel a certain responsibility to write about difficult subject matter. Jesmyn Ward More Quotes by Jesmyn Ward More Quotes From Jesmyn Ward I always understood my ancestry, like that of so many others in the Gulf Coast, to be a tangle of African slaves, free men of color, French and Spanish immigrants, British colonists, Native Americans - but in what proportion, and what might that proportion tell me about who I thought I was? Jesmyn Ward thoughtmecolormen I've always used Southern rappers in epigraphs for my novels. For 'Sing, Unburied, Sing,' I wanted to use Big K.R.I.T. - because I have so much respect for the lyrical depth of their music. Jesmyn Ward bigalwaysrespectmusic I celebrate my blackness. I love the artistic vibrancy of the culture I was born to. Jesmyn Ward celebratebornloveculture I knew it would be painful to write a memoir. Jesmyn Ward knewwritememoirpainful I think art, especially literature, has the particular power to immerse the viewer or reader into another world. This is especially powerful in literature, when a reader lives the experience of the characters. So if the characters are human and real enough, then readers will feel empathy for them. Jesmyn Ward experiencepowerworldart I need the lightness of children's lit. Jesmyn Ward needlightnesslitchildren I read everything. When I say everything, I read everything: children's literature, Y.A., science fiction, fantasy, romance - I read it all. Each genre fulfills a different need I have. Each book teaches me something. Jesmyn Ward mesciencebookchildren I think that the first book that made me think that I could try to be a writer - or that made me aware that a young black woman from the South could write about the South - was Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple,' which I read for the first time when I was in junior high. Jesmyn Ward womanmeblacktime History and socio-economic inequality and all those things had, like, borne down upon my family and my community and really sort of narrowed our choices. Jesmyn Ward downfamilycommunityhistory We salvage the bones of our lives every day, through small tragedies and big tragedies. Jesmyn Ward every-daysmallbigday I hope people who read my books feel empathy for us and really see us as complicated people. Jesmyn Ward feelempathyhopepeople As a parent, you want to protect your children, but the fact of racism in this country, of inequality, that is still a lesson my children are going to have to learn. I can't protect my kids from that. Jesmyn Ward youparentracismchildren
