What better day, than the Martine Luther King Jr. Holiday to
consider the important topic of diversity. As a family we are in the process of
researching and applying for schools as we put our plans in motion for our move
to Seattle this summer. The process of applying has been an eye opener for me.
For one thing, it is, for the most part, automated. Compared to my last formal
school application process (graduate programs for me), the updated process is
much more streamlined. But some things don’t change. And even at the middle
school level the applications request essays and answers from parent and child.
As a writer, most of my answers flew onto the pages with
little need for revision. But when I came to this question I was stumped. How
would our seemingly bread and milk family contribute to a diverse school
environment.
My husband and I talked about it. We considered our family
backgrounds and roots. We laid out all of the ways that we, as a family, may be
different than other families. Ultimately, it all ended up sounding contrived
and a bit patronizing. How could we suggest that raising an only child compares
to the experience of someone who’s encountered racial prejudice?
Eventually it was our daughter that enlightened us. “Mom,
don’t you write about journeys?”
It is true, my tagline is Journeys Inspired by Love. My writing is about what I love,
physical journeys, yes- but also journeys of the heart and mind. As a family I
want us to explore all sorts of ways of living and being so that these journeys
are informed by the diversity of an expanded world view, rather than a narrow
one.
One way that we do this is through reading. February on
Romancing the Genres brings us all a chance to hear from some great
Multi-cultural authors including, B.A. Binns, Terri Molina, and ShobhanBantwal. Exploring their perspectives gives us a
chance to expand ours, both as writers and as readers. So my challenge to you
this week is to search on multi-cultural fiction at your favorite book site and
then pick one of the books to read. Then, report back on what you thought of
the book and how it did, or didn’t, send you on your own journey of growth.Bon Voyage!
Deanne
www.deannewilsted.com
3 comments:
Out of the mouths of our children come truths to pay attention to. And in addition to B.A., Terri, and Shobhan, we have Farrah Rochon joining us on 02/22! It doesn't seem possible that "next month" is in 4 days!!!
Inspiring blog post! I will try a multi-cultural author next month!
Part of the magic of reading is getting to live in someone else's world for a while. Scientific research has shown that, overall, readers tend to be more compassionate and understanding of differences than non-readers.
Your logic makes total sense, Deanne!
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