I’m scared. I’m white, cisgendered, hetero-passing, and my fear is a privilege. It’s a privilege because this is the first time an administration change has caused me fear like this. The beginnings of other administrations have made me feel happy, angry, sad, and worried but for the first time I feel afraid. And I recognize many people from marginalized groups who have to feel this way with nearly every administration change. I wish I knew how to help them, help us all. As a writer, I constantly struggle with the idea that if I select the perfect words, arranged in the perfect order, I’ll be able to build some kind of bridge across this divide in our humanity. Sure, I’ve told myself how unlikely that is, just as you’re probably doing now. But what if we allowed ourselves a moment, a brief instant, to believe that in times like the one we’re all in now – art can make a difference?
I don’t have a very big following so if you’re reading this you’re likely a regular reader or friend. If so, I have a very big favor to ask you. Send this to someone you disagree with. Share this message with someone who isn’t scared yet, who doesn’t feel the palpable fear that we’re all living in right now. When you do, please encourage them to approach what I’m about to say with an open mind, and an honest heart.
To those still celebrating the presidential win – are you willing to entertain other perspectives? There’ll be no heated online debates, no shouting matches between porches, just the time you set aside for yourself, in the quiet, to hear from your fellow Americans who are hurting. At the end of the experience, there will be nothing to stop you from proceeding on your merry way with whatever views you held at the start. If your values hold true they have nothing to fear from a simple challenge.
My challenge is a book, an anthology written by and about marginalized people. Except it’s so much more than that! Should This Book Be Banned is a celebration of cultures, an exploration of challenging ideas, a critique of powerful systems, and a mirror reflecting truth. It would be much easier to market this book to people who already agree with me about many of the subjects contained within. And I’m sure friendlies will make up the majority of its audience but I challenge you to be among them! In fact, I’d go so far as to say this anthology was crafted, for you.
In it, you’ll escape with Birdie from a strict religious sect in the countryside to a high-tech, unfriendly new city, join Will for a drive wherein he reflects on his life choices after a long, meth-fueled night, sit with little Fiamma as she describes the lengths to which her mother will go to protect her from her father’s abuse, play Uno with a new group of friends in a mental health facility, watch in awe as a demon is baptized, race alongside Ham Bone as he learns the true meaning of the treats he receives, and reflect with wonder on a literal tapestry of the human experience.
I won’t even ask you to commit money to the book immediately. Instead, I invite you to join us for an online Meet the Authors event taking place on Tuesday, February 11th at 7 p.m. You’ll find the link to this event below. This will be a friendly space as long as respect is given to everyone involved. It will give you a chance to hear folks read snippets of their work and, I suspect, encourage you to check out this amazing piece of work by fellow Ohioans. Should you decide to purchase the book you will be supporting local authors which is something we can all get behind.
To those who are feeling the same fear that I’m feeling, I wish I could tell you that this book is going to solve it all. It won’t. What it can do, if we let it, is help us continue to understand one another a little better, challenge us to further question things we thought we knew, and remind us that while we are scared we are also not alone. And that is everything.
My biggest thanks and hugs go out to everyone who helped make this book a reality!
To RSVP and receive the link for the Meet the Authors event on Tuesday, February 11th click here.
briennedaugherty.com 