“Want to talk about
stubborn? I kept at it for five straight years. Five damn years. Every day
failing for five years? I'm a pretty stubborn, pretty hard-hearted character,
but those five years of fail did a number on my psyche. On me. Five years, 60
months? It just about wiped me out. By the end of that fifth year, perhaps in
an attempt to save myself, to escape my despair, I started becoming convinced
that I had written all I had to write, that I was a minor league Ralph Ellison,
a Pop Warner Edward Rivera, that maybe it was time, for the sake of my mental
health, for me to move on to another profession, and if the inspiration struck
again some time in the future...well, great.”
This is a quote taken from
an interview Oprah had with writer Junot Diaz in the November Issue of O
magazine. I encourage everyone to read this magazine article. His story is
inspiring and he reminds me a lot of the character Oscar Woa. Both felt out of
place, one in society and the other in writing.
Diaz’s journey was not an
easy one he himself “was not a natural born writer” but he knew he had a
passion for it, much like Oscar did not fit in with the typical Latino
stereotype he was overweight with a curly afro, Diaz was not the typical
writer. He goes on to talk about how his writing was a passion but couldn’t get
his thoughts together for more than 75 pages, Oscar Woa was a break through for
he had almost given up.
Once again I am reminded
of the journey that some most overcome to succeed. He represents the population
of Latinos who still have to struggle to succeed in terms of class and gender.
In class watching that interview
with Steve Colbert who is a reporter watched by many cracked so many jokes and racial
slurs, I was blown away. Whether he was calling Diaz “amigo or brown friend”
there was no denying that Colbert was trying to undermine his credibility. Here
is an author, writer, and professor trying to promote a writing program at UGA
and I felt racial tension and that Colbert didn’t take it seriously, but then
again Diaz knew what he was signing up for when he said yes to interview.
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