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| That primate-ish human ability to hang in there has always been my saving grace |
A COLUMN is power.
A real column, I
mean, is: be it about society, food, raising children, reaching your potential.
Power, I say.
When I was
offered to write a column for that daily newspaper I slaved away at for
donkey-years, unlike with blogging, I did my homework. I started searching out
what is, why for and how to of columnising.
I learned the
"head" of the thing. But what about the "heart"? What would
be at the heart?
Then fate drew
near and touched me on the elbow: at two in the morning, coming back from
karaoke with acquaintances, who had stopped at a fastfood place to grab some
chicken; I had stepped out of the car to instead lay eyes on the fare offered
outside on the pavement.
The
taste of Grrrl Power
There was a
fellow selling books there, spread out on black garbage bags. Never one to pass
a book by, even this dog-eared and natty, my scanning stalled at the
title, Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth I'm Kissing You Good-bye.
Right there was
my entry into the singular, Grrrl Power writing world of Cynthia Heimel.
Serendipity was
smacking me in the face, so I had to buy that book.
The next day I
guffawed, snorted, laughed out loud as I began reading the book in the taxi on
my way to work, non-plussing the other passengers, no doubt. But by the time I
sat at my desk my mind had hit inspired resolve to be a liberal feminist
columnist, (which, to me, is about the same as saying socio-humanist
writer) just like Lady C.H.
"In this
sexist country?" a friend had rasped.
Where better,
then?
To paraphrase, "I took my courage in both hands and went out to face" my nation.
And, yes, yes, it
was a straight case of A Star Is Born. Famous or infamous,
depending on whom you talked to.
It wasn't easy,
eh. It was rather hard. The names I was called!
This is a land
where people can and will walk up to you on the street and tell you what for,
with a smile even. That was fair, though, because I was telling people what for
with my work. You'll see.
Over the years
I've produced five successful columns: Surfacing, Bitch's Brew, Sex
& the Trini, Brew and Come Good.
Will
work for ... not much
But I did so much
more than that in the service of my media-house over the decades, against
boundless odds and for little reward or thanks.
Ironic, really, that what nothing else was able to do over
the years, the self-same company I toiled for managed: basically ending my
professional Media writing.
First by forcing
me into doing television; then by force-fu**ing me out of my hard-earned career
altogether.
I've been
rallying this last decade under the thug-life motto: Stay humble, hustle hard.
But ...
My BBF (Beloved
Boyfriend) once said, "Only justice will make it right."
Yet, when there
is no justice, there is always work. And why worry when you can work?
I had to remember
something immensely important, too: those people I "worked" for ... I
did not write for them. I wrote for my world; to share with my world.
Now, with social
media and this blogging thing, I really, really can.
I will.
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