Talking About Race: A Workbook

Friday, August 26, 2011

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Help

There is a lot of buzz going around about the book and film "The Help".

I had already decided not to watch the movie and I have not read the book.

My sister, Catherine, had sent me two blogs that had an excellent assesement of both. One is by Jennifer Williams of MS. and the other by Akiba Solomon in Colorlines. I have added the links and decided to re-read Toni Morrison's "Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination" instead of seeing the film.

A few days ago, I looked up a website to a book about money that I was interested in. Then I noticed that in the ads, there was not one person of color! The money book had included diversity and came out in '93, so I was really taken aback by this. I wrote them and told them so. To their credit, witin 2 days, they sent me an apology and posted new ads that included more diversity. I was impressed and told them so.

That is it for today, I hope you have a good one ahead!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Content of Character - Interview with Paul Russell

Hi - Be sure to read my latest interview with Paul Russell in the Content of Character website, follow the link. ~ K

Friday, August 5, 2011

Returning to Blogging

Gosh, it has been a very long time since I have blogged. The death of a beloved family member in September took me by surprise and within 6 months of his passing, two of my closest friends made their transition. Meanwhile my book has been gaining significant attention, it is in many libraries and I have been getting more work as a writer and marketer, so in the midst of these losses, it has been a fertile year giving birth to many opportunities for growth, expansion and change. And I have been catching up on some reading.

Here are just a few of the books I have read:

"The Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz" by David Seaman who encourages you to become more social media savvy. "When the Piano Stops: A Memoir of Healing from Sexual Abuse" by my sister, Catherine B. McCall, "The Disordered Mind" by my brother, George A. Graham and one of my favorite books about racism "White Lies: Race and the Myths of Whiteness" by Maurice Berger. In addition, I read Marian Haddad's poetry "Somehere Between Mexico and a River Called Home" and "Wildflower. Stone" and Michelle Alexanders' "Jim Crow and Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" which is a must for anyone working on racial equality. And there have been more books, many more books. But today, I am in the middle of reading "Sell More Books!" by J. Steve Miller and Cherie K. Miller which is interesting and useful.

I had a workshop at the North Star charter school in W. MA. recently and was impressed by the students who were so attentive and forthcoming. And in September, Sat. the 17th I will be at the Author's Event to meet, greet and sign copies of my book at the Springfield Central Library in Springfield, MA. from 10-4pm.

On Thursday Oct. 6th at 6 pm, I will be having a reading at Barnes & Nobles at 335 Russell Street in Hadley, Massachusetts. And I am working on several projects I will be writing about soon. Most of my time has been wrapped around meetings that have been worhwhile and uplifting.

I have also been working as a life coach while I am marketing several authors books. This is a new direction for me and the result of all I have learned since Jan. 2010 when my own book was launched. It has been gratifying that other authors have decided they could use some help getting the word out about their books.

Meanwhile follow the link to the Content of Character website, to read an interview I had with Paul Russell this week. I enjoyed Paul's questions very much and was glad to learn about this website. I am sure you will want to check out at http://www.contentofcharacter.org

http://www.contentofcharacter.org/homepage_slider/interview-with-kaolin-the-challenge-in-getting-unstuck/

I look forward to writing more often and want to congratulate Craig Taylor, CEO and founder of Rare Hip Hop as his business has been taking off for several months now. I also want to thank T Glenn for her willingness to assist me on this journey as the path for my own book continually widens.

This promises to be a most interesting part of my life. I look forward to sharing more on this blog and hope you'll let me know what you think of the interview.

Best,

Kaolin