Have you read The Help by Kathryn Stockett? In this novel from 2009, Stockett enters the world of black women as they spend their days working for white families in the south. The story is set the early 1960's. Skeeter, a white woman, interviews the black women working for her family, friends, and neighbors. Every woman involved is risking her livelihood and physical safety. But they do not flinch. Why? Why risk so much when there is next to no chance of justice being done?
Minny, one of the maids wonders -- "And I am not saying the Miss Skeeter meetings are fun. Every time we meet, I complain. I moan. I get mad and throw a hot potato fit. But here's the thing: I like telling my stories. It feels like I'm doing something about it. When I leave, the concrete in my chest has loosened, melted down so I can breathe for a few days."
Telling your story may sometimes be easy and may sometimes be hard. But what a privilege, what a marvelous way to come alive.
Minny, one of the maids wonders -- "And I am not saying the Miss Skeeter meetings are fun. Every time we meet, I complain. I moan. I get mad and throw a hot potato fit. But here's the thing: I like telling my stories. It feels like I'm doing something about it. When I leave, the concrete in my chest has loosened, melted down so I can breathe for a few days."
Telling your story may sometimes be easy and may sometimes be hard. But what a privilege, what a marvelous way to come alive.
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