The "N Word"

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     Last weekend I attended the Black Family Conference at Tomorrow Aeronautical Museum in Compton, CA.  First and foremost, let’s acknowledge how there’s an aeronautical museum right in Compton that can help our children learn more about aerospace and aviation in our own backyard. 

   The conference itself was really good too.  There was a nice turnout, family activities, dialogue and discussion around resistance.  Like my preference conference, I had the opportunity to connect with the people in the community, have some great conversations that was eye-opening for all parties, and I was able to sell and share my book.  All and all, it was a great day.

   With that being said, there was a unique situation I found myself in at this conference.  Some random lady, possibly just an event attendee, was invited on stage to reenact what they would do in certain situations of social injustice that many of us face.  While she was up there, however, I guess she felt so moved by the scenario that she decided to expand on her feelings and express how she thinks that not only should other races not use the "n word," but no one should be using the “n word” including Black people.  I tried to give her the benefit of doubt that maybe she meant it for everybody there that day.  Until I realized she had contorted her neck to look squarely in my direction, and I couldn't help but smile back at her lol. 

    I also felt like she was speaking at me, not to me, because I may have had a nice size poster with my titled plastered on there.

Wanna Hide Something From a N*gga, Put It In a Book ​

    It may have made her feel some type of way. But even back when I was still writing the book I knew that everybody wasn't going to be a fan of my title. That much was a given. Easy call. 

     But that's why I had to write it!

    I knew that I had stumbled onto a title that would make people feel a certain type of way. And how you feel about the title is more a reflection of you than it is of me, or even the title itself. 

    This woman never took the time to actually come to speak with me about the title, about the "n word" and it's use in this context, or about the historical significance of it all. She got up, exposed her closed-mindedness, went to grab her things at her table, and left. 

   My goal with this book and the purpose of its title truly is to make you feel a certain type of uneasiness and possibly discomfort. I want us to address those issues with the "n word" and its historical significance and its present use in popular culture. Speaking with people at these events allows for that dialogue and has changed my own view on the "n word", but it requires an open-mind and communication to make that happen. 

    So feel a certain type of way about it, but be open to discussion. How are we ever going to move as a collective community if we can't even have a discussion around the division caused by the "n word" in our own communities. ​

- D. Haynes The Author