Wow... it was such a pleasure to attend the reading and listen to the graceful yet humorous Claudia Rankine discuss her poetics in Citizen: An American Lyric. The reading itself was very packed, so much so that a good handful of people had to stand or squat along the side near the wall to fit. There were snacks and beverages available which is always a plus. I had the honor of sitting right behind Rankine and listen to her speak from nearly ten feet away. I had the best seats! And snacks. Heaven. Nevertheless, she read passages from her book and awed the crowd. A piece that stood out to me was one about Serena Williams and the public response to her cripwalking on the tennis court. She received terrible criticism for that action, but when a rival player mimicked her by stuffing her bra and shorts to resemble Serena, the criticism was positive and thought it to be humorous. Another piece was one about a man who was watching Rankine's house, I believe her cousin. And he walked outside to talk on the phone, and her neighbor called the police saying there was a black man trying to break into the house next door, immediately racially profiling the man for his color as someone breaking an entering when he was really just making a call. The reading was very intense but she mellowed the intensity of the content with the humor of her glowing personality. She explained the pictures from the book, which was awesome and fun to see what the book itself did not explain from Rankine herself. Overall, it was a great experience and I'm glad I attended.
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