Really enjoying this book, and boy is it timely. Now more than ever I have been examining my own role in perpetuating stereotypes, or even just being woefully ignorant in my assumptions and word choices. Chapter five really spoke to me. I could heartbreakingly see Twilight shrink as she discovered how her place in the world, albeit passively, is contributing to the machine of slavery.
I feel my self doing the same thing. Thinking I am one of the good guys fighting for justice, only to realize that many of the foundational beliefs I hold, often points of pride, are just plain wrong.
How does one navigate the world with this new revelation? I’m sure looking forward to seeing how Twilight will.
Thank you, Daryl, for your perceptive comments! Yes, Twilight, though dedicated to doing the right thing, is unaware of how she “unintentionally” perpetuates inequality, until Chapter 5. Then, like you, she chooses “examining,” as you state, her life. As GrandMama tells her: “Awareness opens the heart’s passage to Freedom.”
My KUNM Women’s Focus radio interview about WILD CONVICTION addresses the topic of privilege awareness (as well as other topics, such as creating “new stories” through “new language”). I hope to have a link to that interview to share soon.
And then there’s the complex Jackson Canon…
Thanks again for adding to the WILD CONVICTION discussion and for your interest and support! I think it is so cool to have a Discussion aspect on the Inkshares website and that you, Daryl, and other WILD CONVICTION readers are contributing with super comments to that discussion.
I can’t wait to get this novel published so I can share how Twilight gains awareness, develops altruism, manages secrets that endanger her life, deals with threats from people living and dead, and lots, lots more!