I was a brand new freshman at Mount Holyoke College when I was assigned to read Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.  Raised rurally, 18 years old, and still finding my way I was unprepared for its impact on me.   The Bluest Eye was shocking, compelling, heartbreaking, and brutal in how it revealed to me my own naivety about the world.

It changed me and how I see the world.

Thank you Toni Morrison for your unflinching writing, your gift for telling truth.

Your words have stayed with me for over 30 years. Let me never forget them.