Danzy Senna Black History Month Podcast

hi this is derek c moss professor of english and interdisciplinary studies at suny potsdam welcome to a deeper dive into african american literature a daily series of short podcasts produced in conjunction with suny potsdam celebration of black history month in 2021 each day this february we'll be looking at and listening to the work of an african-american writer whose name may not be as familiar as frederick douglass zora neale hurston langston hughes or toni morrison but these writers contributions help give us a much fuller picture of black artists roles in shaping american culture [Music] episode 19 dansy senna dansy senna is actually married to percival everett who was featured in the previous installment of this series but well before the two of them met she was already a celebrated novelist and essayist and has made a name for herself by producing fiction that examines the complexity of mixed race identity in contemporary america senna was born in boston to a white mother and a black father both of whom were politically engaged writers not surprisingly senna herself demonstrated an interest in literature from an early age and studied it at both the undergraduate and graduate levels her debut caucasia appeared in 1998 and immediately received glowing reviews and nominations for numerous awards it remains her most popular work to date though each of her subsequent three books of fiction and her memoir where did you sleep last night about her parents complicated marriage have been well regarded by critics and readers alike she teaches literature and creative writing at the university of southern california in los angeles bertie the narrator and protagonist of senna's debut novel resembles her creator in being the child of an interracial couple who grows up in boston during a period of intense racial turmoil the excerpt from caucasia that follows shows how that context affected the ways in which she and her sister perceive their own identities a long time ago i disappeared one day i was here the next i was gone it happened as quickly as all that one day i was playing schoolgirl games with my sister and our friends in a roxbury playground the next i was a nobody just a body without a name or a history sitting beside my mother in the front seat of our car moving forward on the highway not stopping and when i stopped being a nobody i would become white white as my skin hair and bones allowed my body would fill in the blanks tell me who i should become and i would let it speak for me this was back when boston still came in black and white yellowing around the edges you could just make out the beginnings of color red-eyed teenagers with afros like halos around their faces whispering something about power and oh fate of one another as they shuffled to catch the bus a man's mocha hand on a woman's pale knee i disappeared into america the easiest place to get lost dropped off without a name without a record with the only body i traveled in and a memory of something lost this is what i remember before i ever saw myself i saw my sister when i was too small for mirrors i saw her as the reflection that proved my own existence back then i was content to see only cole three years older than me and imagine that her face cinnamon-skinned curly-haired serious was my own it was her face above me always waving toys at me cooing at me whispering to me pinching me when she was angry and i was the easiest target that face was me and i was that face and that was how the story went we even spoke our own language my father described the language as high-speed patois cole and i just called it elemento after our favorite letters in the alphabet for more information about senna and her view of america at the time she wrote caucasia follow the link at the top of this page to the text of her famous essay the mulatto millennium check back tomorrow at the link at the bottom of the screen for another episode of the deeper dive into african american leadership while you're there you'll be able to find links to all of the previous episodes in the series as well as links to booksellers from whom you can purchase these authors works and please if you've enjoyed this series so far help us spread the word thanks and gratitude go out to clifton harkem jason hunter and alex jacobs wilkie at suny potsdam as well as to david summerstein and bonnie north of north country public radio