I understandthe workings of memory somewhat better after writing amemoir, but I still question: How fundamentally trueare memories, and whose memory is the authority?
This is a very interesting idea to me because If a memory is being used as a truth, how true is it really? It reminds me of playing a game of telephone in which your memory can warp with time. I am guilty of misremembering things too so writing out my thoughts can be difficult if its not fresh in my head.
Owen and I often drive by the exit forAndrew Jackson’s Hermitage as we go between Tulsa andKnoxville. I am afraid to stop because I don’t know what Iwill do when confronted directly with the grave of this man. Irewrote because I worried how an interrogator could usethese words against me, to kill or torment me.
The fear of speaking her truth caused her to self censor which is something similar to my community issue. The fear of scrutiny or even worse than that is a big component as to why it is difficult to confront these issues in the first place.
. I will not allow this youngNative poet to be erased just because she spoke hertruth.
I have always agreed that there are always two sides to a story. I think it is even more important to allow the youth to speak their truth in any community because what they believe tends to be more raw and unfiltered.
am still thinking about the best way to handle suchconflicts and still believe that direct confrontation willgive tunwanted attention.
I think its important to note that there is probably a correct way to handle confrontation however, I think each situation is nuanced and has to be thought about. Although this can be complicated in the heat of the moment; if given proper time to prepare this could become an easier task
Where can we speak if not our owncommunities? Is erasure what happens, or what canhappen when we go against the prevailing story,
This is something my community faces as well. Many of the people in construction are in denial of their alcoholic tendencies and will try to put you down or bully you for going against the grain and pushing back. Frankly they just dont want to hear it.
Now I am working on an historical memoir andinvestigating memories of ancestors. That’s acomplicated process.
Here is where I think she decided to step into the role of telling the truths of her community. She goes to places of significant historical value from both the community, and from her own family; as well as communicates with her people to learn more. That is something I found similar with my approach to my community problem. I had to step in and learn from personal experience as well as from information I could gain from people within my community.
His book of translations became a major text inuniversities for the study of native literature for someyears.)
The Author speaks often of other peoples works to use as examples when bringing up the truthfulness of information. She appears so far to be an observer even though she is the one who wrote this.
When I went online I discovered that the younger Nativepoet had been censured on two native literary sites forspeaking. I went next to her Facebook page. It was gone.I kept thinking about erasure, how someone can surfaceand then disappear beneath the weight of words, newsand so-called news, and opinions
I think she has a very good point here when it comes to how media can be used to cover up stories like these. It is something that I believe media should be held accountable for especially in a time where media controls politics, news, and everything else that is critical to the wellbeing of any community.
To want to speak up is understandable. That’s what wedo as writers, as poets. We are charged with beingtruthtellers.
I feel when she is talking about wanting to speak out that it relates to my community problem by being the antithesis. It is not often that construction workers want to speak up about their problems. That gave me the drive to be one of the few to do so.