I write to be heard. I write also so that the African American experience can become part of the public space and the public imagination. For me, often the best way to do that is to write outside the box. One of the most important decisions a writer makes is the structure, the architecture that will both hold and express their story. Perhaps my belief that there are multiple doorways into the truth, that my pain may be your pleasure, and that group intelligence is far superior to the intelligence of a single person leads me to write again and again in the “communal memoir” format. That is how I wrote The Strong Black Woman How A Myth Endangers the Physical and Mental Health of Black Women.
