Leeann

When we were in 9^th grade Leeann and I wanted to run away from home, so we bought a car for $10. It didn’t have any tires and it was up on blocks in someone’s yard, out on the highway.

my Afro-American club membership

I was in 5^th grade when our schools were integrated. I was in 9^th grade, when the black kids started an AfroAmerican club at our high school, Garrett High, in Charleston, SC.  The adult sponsor of the club looked like Angela Davis.  My friend Leeann and I went to the first meeting, two little white girls. When the other members  elected us  president and vice president of the club, I looked at Angela Davis’  face and realized that she thought  this was a pretty shitty idea.

in a nutshell

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Three pieces of mail yesterday: a statement about my loan for college, a notice reminding me that the State Farm check had bounced and a letter from AARP.

flowers from little girls

The little girls next door are selling flowers and when a man in a red van responds to their calls by stopping, I slow down and note his license plate number, just in case, and one of their mothers comes outside to stand on the porch, pretending to have business there. I feel sorry for men and I feel sorry for mothers and for children and all of us, living in a world where a man can’t simply stop to buy a flower from a little girl.

14

Sandy posted a picture on Facebook of me as a 14 year old. I wanted to go back and say no, don’t! I work in a public school, so I don't think I can be more specific than that. No, don’t do those things.