“Follow your truth”
“Follow your truth” is what author, Bridgett M. Davis inscribed in my book she’d written. She also happens to be a former professor of mine, one of the best I had while attending Baruch College. It’s funny the way the universe gives you answers to questions you haven’t yet formulated to ask. But lets rewind a bit; I tend to get ahead of myself sometimes. Forgive me.
Ok, so I get email blasts from the Brooklyn Public Library every so often because I signed up to email notification. To be honest, I don’t always open them but this one in particular stood out. I saw the name Bridgett Davis. I clicked on the email to be sure it was my Davis and sure enough it was! She was going to be apart of a book discussion alongside two other authors. So after a hefty scream I made a mental note to save the date, Thursday October 9th at 7p.m. at the Dweck Center at the Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn Public Library. Perfect!
I literally remembered the day of and couldn’t believe my luck that I had the day off (was it really luck or the universe speaking to me? No such thing as a coincidence right?). Anyhow, I ran into my parent’s room and asked my mom if she cared to accompany me and she agreed. Ha! I knew better, I knew she wasn’t really going but just wanted to appease me seeing how excited I was. It’s not that she didn’t want to go, she works evenings and I knew she was tired…I was just being selfish. I decided to ask a few other friends who I thought might be interested in attending. Now, not a lot of people my age or in my age group would jump at the chance to join a book discussion. Not everyone is a book lover. I get it. It just never hurts to ask. I did however get one of my good friends to go. I was psyched.
I read Davis’s first novel, ‘Shifting through Neutral’ during the summer and it took me the longest to get through. Not that it wasn’t a great book, it was. But for the last few months I was reading, beach reads (easy light reads). This book wasn’t like that; it was a heavier text that forced me to think. The book was essentially about the complex, deep relationship between a father and daughter.
Anyhow, we got to the library around six. I wanted to make sure we got there early to get good seats. Yea, I was one of those students who always had to sit in the front. The discussion started at promptly 7 p.m. the panelists included: Bridgett M. Davis, Tiphanie Yanique and Akhil Sharma. All right, I’m going to admit that I didn’t read any of their books. I didn’t even hear of these other two authors before. Although I later found out that it was Yanique’s first novel. So you may ask yourself why go if you can’t contribute to the conversation? It’s simple, I didn’t care. I just wanted to be in the room with these people (Davis above all). Each of them read an excerpt from their book and talked about what their book was about without really giving anything away to discourage you from reading. I guess they figured (correctly) that not everyone had gotten a chance to read their work. Perfect!
Yanique is hilarious! Her novel takes place in the Virgin Islands (where she’s from) and one of her characters speaks with a Caribbean accent, which she read her excerpt in. During the Q&A Yanique was just so honest and blunt! I loved it I liked her immediately. Davis was poised as usual; something about her reminds me of Tracee Ellis Ross (I adore her). And then there was Sharma who’s a little pompous? Yea, I think that’s an accurate word to describe him. But he was funny so it works for him…I guess. All three are professors. Davis still teaches at Baruch College and Yanique’s a professor at the New School. I can’t remember where Sharma teaches, sorry! I was just proud to see Davis and Yanique, two passionate and successful black women sharing their work and experiences.
After the event finished I bought Yanique and Davis’s book. So you know I had to roll-up on them to sign it. I asked Davis if she remembered me, she did. Yanique must’ve heard me talking to Davis prior because when I asked her to sign my book she asked if I was indeed a former student of Davis and asked what I was doing now. Ok, I always get embarrassed when people ask me this. Because I’m not currently working in the profession I received my degree in. Nevertheless, I told her my plans for graduate school and the conflict I was facing. I’m deciding if I should go to grad school for sociology or journalism (we’ll get into that another time). She encouraged me to apply to the New School (I just might). Davis and me finally got to catch up and she too asked what I was doing now. She’s one of those people you can’t lie to (not that I ever would) it’s like she can see right through you. I love/hate that. She’s always been so nurturing and encouraging, “I hope to hear from you soon!” she said. And she will. I’m finally starting to follow my truth!
Check out these novels:
Into the Go-slow by Bridgett Davis
Land of Love and Drowning: A Novel by Tiphanie Yanique
Family Life: A Novel by Akhil Sharma
BTW,the Brothers and Sisters event was sponsored by Eta Nu Sigma Brooklyn Queens Alumnae Chapter.