Member-only story
CULTURE
How Good Literature Sustains Me
Reading good writing is self nurturing
When I finally went away to a four year college to finish my undergraduate education, I decided to matriculate at the predominantly “White” state school. I didn’t think of it that way. I was just looking for a school that had a tradition of liberal arts teaching, humanities, and a school that was not so big. I never felt comfortable in the atmosphere of gigantic universities and colleges.
In the end, I was accepted at Frostburg State University and Delaware State University. Frostburg State got back to me quicker on my housing for school so I paid my deposit and left Washington D.C. in search of my soul.
When I left for Frostburg State, I packed clothes and records, a turntable, and a boom box, and I brought a few books. One in particular was the collection of the writings of W.E. B. DuBois. The other was an anthology of Black Literature called Right On (see above photo). The anthology, edited by Bradford Chambers and Rebecca Moon, remains for me a part of my life and my personal self care.
Right On (and the DuBois book) were probably my two most important possessions during college with the exception of my I.D. Card so I could eat in the cafeteria. Right On was especially important to me because I was attending…
