Author: Amory Campbell

“I am a black Mississippian. I am a black American. I pledge to never be passive, patriotic, or grateful in the face of American abuse. I pledge to always thoughtfully bite the self-righteous American hand that thinks it’s feeding us. I pledge to perpetually reckon with the possibility that there will never be any liberty, peace, and justice for all unless we accept that America, like Mississippi, is not clean. Nor is it great. Nor is it innocent.” (Laymon)

Within the essay “What I Pledge Allegiance To” by Kiese Laymon, I found many aspects of myself within the work itself. Mr. Laymon tells of his thoughts on the ragged American flag he has hung outside his home in Oxford, Mississippi. The essay follows the timeline of Mr. Laymon being a resident in upstate New York, and a resident in Jackson, Mississippi. The ways in which he describes living in New York as a black American and how he differentiates, and in a way, minimizes, the classification of living in Mississippi as simply a black Mississippian is not only interesting but also in many aspects relatable to many other black Mississippians. Mr. Laymon also speaks on the completely different worries of black Mississippians as appose to other black Americans. These few highlights, however, do not nearly scratch the surface of the amount of material that Mr. Laymon discusses with his essay, but these are points that stuck out to me greatly as a reader from Jackson, Mississippi.

As I read this work, I felt the wording from Mr. Laymon on his thoughts and emotions was done with great eloquence. Although his speech within the article itself is informal, the message was a very sensitive topic to write on, and could have very well come off to readers as more of an attack at Americans as appose to Mr. Laymon’s personal beliefs, but Mr. Laymon did a very impressive job at avoiding wording that would seem offensive or brash. I believe that I and Mr. Laymon have very common viewpoints on the Pledge of Allegiance when it comes to the topic of if we support it or not. I commend the altercations and inclusion of Mr. Laymon’s own personal “allegiance” to himself that he ended his essay with, which I included at the beginning of this review. I personally believe this essay had a lot of great detailing and imagery; however, I do believe there were a few missed opportunities in the writing.

In a section of the writing, Mr. Laymon speaks on why he will not remove the flag from his yard out of fear, but I believe that moment would have been a great opportunity to include a hypothetical scenario regarding him and his neighbors, or the actions that may follow if he took the flag down; however, the ambiguous text of not telling what may happen leaves it up to the imagination of the readers. Overall, I highly recommend this essay as a good read for many Americans, especially African American Mississippians. If you would like to read this essay, please click here.

“It’s hard to get right when the free folks out there are more trapped than the criminal folks in jail. I just want to be free” (Brown).

Yet again, I found myself reading another work from Mr. Kiese Laymon. This week, I read an essay entitled, “Teaching White Students Showed Me the Difference Between Power and Privilege”. This work was found on his website under the extension of essays. I originally began reading another essay, which was going to be the topic of my blog; however, this essay caught my attention the second time around of searching for a piece to analyze.

The work itself was everything I expected as far as a powerful message being delivered, which as I said in my last entry, Mr. Laymon does a fine job at. Mr. Laymon speaks of the connections formed between him and a man in Poughkeepsie, New York, as well as observations as an educator, and the links between the two. The essential message within the text is the repetition of the “black cycle” of supporting “white folks”, and how, as Mr. Laymon states it, “Americans with the least access to healthy choice and second chances are given the harshest punishments” (Laymon).

The piece is in no way a work that slanders any race per se, but it is honest in the view and foundation of the social structures that we as Americans have experienced so long, and how we have come so numb to the feelings of society we find being slandered comfortable. I would say that this piece touches my inner activist. I personally love works that are blunt and aware that the world we are in is crueler to some more than others, and there are not as many people as it should be who are trying to change this because people are turning a blind eye to what does not affect them negatively.

The only downsides of this essay were a few missed opportunities that I feel Mr. Laymon could have explored. In my opinion, the best way to explain without spoiling the work itself is that he speaks of a student and the student’s characteristics, but he never speaks on the student’s own comments or how the student reacts to the circumstances he is born with. I believe him being an educator, then he would most definitely see his student’s comfortability in his life or his self-awareness to the standards.

As far as the writing, on a positive note, the essay is written in the form of a story; however, it is embedded with personal thoughts and logic from Mr. Laymon. The work itself is not long, but for its length, I am very impressed with how well Mr. Laymon packed so much depth into the essay. So many well-written points and lines were put into it that it makes a very rich read. I most definitely recommend this work to any who are interested, and I encourage writers to read more works from Mr. Laymon. If you would like to read this essay, click here.

“The summer of ‘86, DeVante got jumped by two old sixteen-year-old Vice Lords from West Jackson.”(Laymon)

This short story by Kiese Laymon, had to be one of my good reads for the month. The story “I Mean Y’all” was one I came across on his website. Also included in the tile was the description, a “short short short story,” and the purpose of me reading it was definitely not from the detail added to the title. The thing that caught my attention was the title itself, “I Mean Y’all”. The title brings so many nostalgic moments for me being a girl who grew up in Jackson, Mississippi. To many people, it may seem as just a southern slang, but to me, it reminded me of the people I’ve been around for so long. The way they talk, and the familiarity of the slang that I have grown so accustomed to.

Mr. Kiese Laymon does a great job of going straight into the story with detailing of the characters. Details that I can only imagine people growing up in the urban schools of Jackson, Mississippi will understand. His diction is very relaxed, and after a while of reading it, you can almost hear his voice telling you the story himself. For some, that may seem uninteresting, but I can most definitely say that if you have taken the time to speak with Mr. Laymon, you will soon see he is quite the character, and his work reflects his characteristics greatly.

Mr. Laymon has a way of writing works that take you along for a ride, and before you know it, you are being slammed into by a truck on a busy highway. His messages within his work are powerful, and they ease up on the reader in the swiftest way.

A disclaimer, however, that I must give is that this work, as well as many of his other works, are not and I do repeat not for the faint-hearted. It is a short story that is vulgar, honest, and very uncensored; however, I do believe that if the work were not written as it is, then it would miss the rawness of the content. Being a young adult such as myself, who has grown in the community of many other Jackson residents, South and West particularly, I am familiar with the language. The story felt like one I have heard of or even seen before. The people within the story feel like people that I know too well, and that is what I admire most about the piece. I enjoy the way it feels as though Mr. Laymon had the ability to capture the culture and characteristics of the people I have grown to know.

The story, although again its content is very explicit, is a read that I do not regret finding. The work inspires me to embrace my surroundings, and to keep my memories and experiences as close to the surface of my mind as possible. Because even years later, they may be as vital to me then as they were before.

“Is human nature such that, under certain conditions, stupidity can come to dominate, infecting the brighter quadrants, dragging everybody down with it?”(Saunders 7)

If you are interested in reading a good collection of essays, I have just the selection for you.

For my blog this week, I decided to do somewhat of an excerpt from a larger work. I’ve selected to review the first “chapter” of essays within the book written by George Saunders, which is a collection of essays. The book is entitled, The Braindead Megaphone and the layout of it itself is quite interesting. The essay themselves are separated as somewhat chapters; however, some of the essays have subtopics. The chapter my blog focuses mainly on is the first one, “The Braindead Megaphone”. The chapter is broken into individual subtext that are divided in numeric order from one to nine. The subtext itself is somewhat confusing when you first begin because at first glance, it doesn’t seem as though they correlate to each other than the fact that they are works based on hypotheticals and internal thoughts.

My two favorites would have to be number two and number six. They both link to each other, and the philosophy of the “Megaphone Man” is truly something brilliant. It is very difficult to explain the clever analysis of the situation within the writing without going in-depth and explaining the entire essay.

This first collection, in particular, does not necessarily lay out a full start to finish storyline; however, each does deliver a message that may or may not tie into another subtext within the essays. The works are written in what I can only explain as a thought process form. To elaborate on that, a few of them drift between thoughts, some follow a distinct line of ideas that drive the work to a specific conclusion, and in others, Saunders lays out information and plainly talks to the readers about a topic that interests him.

The positives I received reading these works are that the works each have some very interesting logic to them. After each of them, they left me with something to think about as I went into the next piece, and a thought-provoking essay is always a good thing. The only negatives I can give are that this book judging from the first chapter that it is not a collection of essays for the feeble-minded and that the layout of the book, taking the numbering and divided sections into consideration, can be somewhat confusing for the reader. However, I do not believe that a book being for an intellectual audience is negative. I am simply stating that the book follows a very complex and creative mind that dissects the boundaries of social living and an individuals purpose in life.

Although this review is only for the first “chapter” of essays, I do not doubt that the writing will be phenomenal. George Saunders has a very distinct voice within his writing that pulls you into a view of the world from an overview. In conclusion, the writing is most definitely worth a read.

“— I done it for my own pure-D satisfaction.” (Welty 216)

The short story, “Where is the Voice Coming From?”, by the great Eudora Welty is by far a must read. It is personally my favorite story from Mrs. Eudora Welty. It is brutally honest in its writing from the mind of a white supremacist within the 1960’s. The story was written following the assassination of Medgar Evers, and is to have been written based on his assassination. For this review, I went back for a second time reading this story looking for understanding within the mindset of the narrator. Through my first read, I only found anger. I believe my first read did not give the work itself enough justice. I read the story and could not get past the language to find the beauty in the message. In this read, I searched for an understanding. By stating understanding I do not by any means refer to compassion for the narrator; my meaning is finding a comprehension as to what leads the man to take action. In this read, I found great detailing in his thought process, his own personal character flaws, as well as the character development throughout the story which I found a great interest in. The story as so many symbolic aspects to it, and I encourage others to challenge themselves to dig deep into the story and find the dark thoughts of what I can only label as a jealous and unrighteous man.

A disclaimer to potential readers that I can give, is that Eudora Welty does not under any means restrain language from this piece of work. It has a few demeaning words, as well as racial slurs, and it does a very adequate job of portraying the narrator. Some readers may become very uncomfortable reading the work; however, if you can look past the language and find the root purpose of the writing then you will definitely find the boldness in the writer herself.

The timing for when Eudora Welty released this work, in my opinion, only adds to the power of the piece itself. Within the era of civil rights, the African Americans were making a difference in the community. Not to mention that Ms. Eudora Welty was a Caucasian woman writing a work that slandered a white supremacist man, which were few men she grew up around. She gave a look through the eyes of a man that many people feared and fought against. For me, this work following a powerful leader’s death made the piece phenomenal.I encourage others if possible to visit Medgar Evers home where he was assassinated after reading this work. The setting that Ms. Eudora Welty describes is not the same as it was many years ago; however, the similarities to today’s view and the past is bone chilling. For me, the location mixed with the story gave me goosebumps.

I encourage others if possible to visit Medgar Evers home where he was assassinated after reading this work. The setting that Ms. Eudora Welty describes is not the same as it was many years ago; however, the similarities to today’s view and the past is bone chilling. For me, the location mixed with the story gave me goosebumps. Overall, the story is a great work of artistry, written by a well-respected writer that is worth a read.

What are all the places on the body you can wear a ring?

The question may seem completely random, which it is. The statement is simply an interesting question I formulated brought from the simple topic, rings. If I were given the topic “rings,” I would have no idea where to begin with in general, however after reading this article, I’ve approached the topic with a completely different mindset. I’ve personally found great success so far in the process. This is a perfect example to deliver for my suggestion of a great read for all writers, as well as students who have a difficult time with figuring out the perfect attention catching sentence.

The article, “How to Write Interesting Content for a ‘Boring’ Topic,” written by Pratik Dholakiya is a phenomenal and interesting read that shakes the concept of a such thing as a “boring topic”. Based on the initial read of the title, I expected a somewhat to do list fashioned article; however, it was nothing of my expectations. Dholakiya states that a topic is not the issue of building a good read, it is the use of the “right questions” being used to make the content interesting.

In my opinion, I believe the article is very beneficial, especially for me being a writing student who deal with writing essays every week. It becomes very frustrating searching for the perfect sentence to begin a work, and even though this article focuses on “titles for blogging and article writing”, I believe it is beneficial to all writing. As I said previously, this would be very beneficial for all students.

Prati Dholakiya did a wonderful job with providing the information in an interesting manner while also remaining on topic. He in no way drifts from the purpose of the article itself, which is more than likely a bonus for readers who enjoy a writer being blunt and straight to the point. He brings forth great topics and explains each of his points as well as providing facts of data behind his suggestions from recent views of other topics that may be seen as uninteresting or extremely vague.

The article is not to be mistaken as a step by step guide to what to do when there is a feeling of being stuck with content the writer does not find interesting, so if the reader is looking to find a step by step guide then they will be disappointed. Dholakiya simply gives off clearly suggestions and advice to improve the view point of a topic. The article also shows places the writer in the eyes of a reader approaching a work of a writer, and the things that people normally pay attention to being things relating to themselves.

If I was forced to bring forth any negative comments, it would only be that I wish there were more examples brought from the author. However, in the writing world, wanting more from a passage is commonly when in the right context, a very good thing.

To read this work click here.