One of this year's Oscar nominees for best picture is "American Fiction." In it, Thelonius "Monk" Ellison, a middle-class Black author, suddenly needs a lot of money. In order to create a bestseller, Monk reluctantly takes on an alter ego.
My identity is tied up in a series of anecdotes. Being a first-generation college educated Black, tall, plus-size, Queer femme from a working class family from the Motor City, most people have a certain expectation of me as a writer.
My personal experiences — or a life that people perceived that I've lived — could make for a great ASPCA type campaign (but for humans) or donation letter narrative for a local charity.
I want to write what I want to write without having to always strut my struggle for a paycheck.
I'm proud of the resilient life I’ve lived. However, I'm not the spokesperson for the invalid. I want to write myself as a romantic lead: a Black, fat, mermaid princess dressed by a flock of birds who loses her glass slipper at the ball and then is kissed awake after a countless years’ slumber by a handsome prince.
I want a happily forever after.
In "American Fiction," the book Monk writes as Stagg R. Leigh is a clear departure from his previous works. One of his prior books was an adaptation of a Greek tragedy. As Stagg R. Leigh, he writes about being a murderer on the run from the feds. Monk is an academic; Stagg R. Leigh is definitely not of the ivory tower.
I understand why Monk resorts to using every negative stereotype about being Black in America in his bestseller: the hard-knock life trope sells. With his mother's medical bills mounting, Monk knew what he had to do.
Dearest Fairy Godmothers: Grant me that bestseller that'll make lots of money without my having to exploit myself. Remember "Duck Tales" and that pool of money Scrooge McDuck swims in? I want to do that — because my fairy tale sells big!
I'm leaving my struggle off the shelf.
Nicole M. Young-Martin is a writer and educator affiliated with Enchanted Circle, UMass Amherst and Bard Microcollege. She also hosts the podcast Black Writers Read.