Pearl Cleage rocks. I know this whole project of journal entries interspersed with personal letters and dotted with poetry was inspired by (and compiled for) her daughter, but It feels like she wrote it to remind ME that what I don’t know about the dynamics of feminism and civil rights would fill a large library.

Seriously. My lack of awareness of who’s who in black history is tantamount to illiteracy. Every time I stopped to Google one of her friends or acquaintances I was both awed and humbled. This beautiful woman was quite often in the eye of the storm. It’s sad to think that I, creeping up on my sixtieth year, could have easily passed through this world never knowing who she was or what she has accomplished or how incredibly incredible she (still) is.