James Baldwin said, "You think your pain and your heartbreak is unprecedented in the history of the world, and then you read." I would add, you often think your joy and your personal experience is unique, but if you read far enough and wide enough, you realize every identity, even yours, has a corollary in a book.
When you also wish to be a writer, though, there is a special thrill in finding yourself in the work of other women of color. Here are people who look like you, who probably share, on some level, at least certain aspects of your material life. And they are imagining your spiritual life, the parts of yourself you sometimes have to suppress or at least judiciously edit to fulfill the roles of daughter, sister, mother, partner, friend, or co-worker that are required of most of us to get through life.
