Sometime after second grade, my mom bought me my first diary. I actually used this for years and still have it somewhere hidden away. Unlike the school assignments, I had at the time, I felt like my diary was for an authentic purpose, keeping my secrets. While I felt comfortable keeping secrets in my journal, I have never felt very truthful in my other writing. Without that truthfulness, my writing has suffered. I have had a hard time addressing meaningful topics.
Some reasons why I had a hard time writing was because I was not able to accept my positioning. I did not want to admit to myself or other people where I was coming from and what my experiences were. I wanted to have the same upper-middle class background as all of my friends.
Stephanie Jones talks about how power is related to positioning. I agree. The ability to acknowledge my positioning has given me power. Power to write. Power to express myself. Power to tell stories about my life. Power to realize the value in those stories. Power to know that their is value in having a diverse background. I hope this is a lesson I can take to the children I work with.
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