"Golden Wings" by Carmen K. Welsh

When I still took the bus, the #3 was my go-to route, and it's more scenic, especially when it travels to and through Midtown Miami.

Now my car is nearing its fifth year, so this bus ride probably took place in 2006*, when I frequented the Wolfson Campus for workshops, conferences, seminars, as well as the Miami Book Fair International.

There are some chintzy motels one passes before reaching Midtown proper. Some try with Greco-Roman frescoes and fountains bearing rows of Cupid sculptures.

My mind so used to the sheer gaudiness that I'm napping when the bus passes.

Yet, on this day, the #3 picked up a passenger, and I was startled from my ennui. A young woman, shades lighter than I, almost toffee-colored, narrow face, got on, and sat almost directly across, where the seats are parallel to the windows, not perpendicular.

Her hair pulled back in a tight, hasty, short ponytail. She wore jeans, and I can't remember her shoes, but what struck me was her sweater. It was worn through with holes stretched by wear. It was once red but now faded to a reddish orange. When she paid her fare, she pulled this sweater around her as a queen with her scarf. But she was cold, because once she took her seat she drew it tighter around her before deciding to flaunt what she had. There was no shirt or blouse under that worn sweater, only a bra with material appearing to be gold lame'. The design on each cup was a single, outstretched wing.

The brassiere resembled an angel's wing pair that points in opposite directions.

I stared, and not, mind you, out of disgust, pity, or even sympathy, but only in naive' shock. For in my 28-29 years, I was not immune to scantily-dressed individuals, just not really seeing a person publicly flaunt any underwear, much less, so brazenly, or, so proudly.

The young woman noticed my expression, and glared at me. I tried to look away out of courtesy, but my eyes kept going back to that angel wing-design bra.

Long after the bus left that neighborhood of motels, I regretted that I had not paid attention to the exact spot where we picked her up.

When I finally did 'mind my own business', more questions came: What were you running from that you could only throw on a bra, and what made you choose THAT sort of bra?

For the entire time she was onboard, I couldn't stop thinking about the situations a person could be in to hop on a bus in a shredded sweater and a seemingly gold lame' brassiere?

My morbid curiosity thinks back on that particular bus route, and I wonder, where is that young woman now?

Was that bus ride we shared in 2006* her escape? Did she wear that bra because of its symbolism of flight? If so, I hope for her sake.

*I'm not sure of the exact year, but estimate 2006-2008.

Books as Keystones by Ms. Carmen Welsh

Years ago, before I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism "Grave's Disease", I had to undergo a series of tests.

At the medical center that had the proper equipment to scan me for goiter, my nervous mother beside me in the waiting room, I currently read "See Jane Win", ground-breaking book by Dr. Sylvia Rimm. In this brilliantly-written study over a course of 1,000 successful women, Dr. Rimm, who co-wrote the book with her two daughters, also 'Dr.s' in their own right, posed several scenarios that a young girl raised under such conditions becomes successful in life regardless of socio-economic, ethnicity, or even by family education status.

The more I read, the more I agreed with the cases of 1,000 women. From all walks of life, women who grew to prominence in their chosen path, or a career that became theirs, began as curious girls, often  thirsty for knowledge, versed in certain math- or science-related fields, had taken music lessons, had several interests, hobbies, etc.

Finally, I was called to the reception area, where sat a young woman who shared my ethnicity. We greeted one another, and after I answered her questions related to my impending examination, she asked me what I was reading.  I explained, quite enthusiastically, what the book was about in a nutshell. She looked at me and quite dismissively shrugged and said, "Well, I only read books written by Black people."

That stopped me cold. That made me upset. And then infuriated me.
Was she not a woman? Did she not care, as a woman, what MADE a successful woman, and what evidence there was to support the reasons these 1,000 Women became successful?

No, she must've believed that such subject matter or topic could only come from someone Non-Black, and therefore, refuse its wisdom or knowledge.

Now I love many of the Black writers of the past.   I love my Black writers now, and I am a future Black writer myself. However, how could she say such a thing? How could she, in her race-loyal ways, belittle the sum of human knowledge to only reading topics EXCLUSIVE to one race? And if she only reads Black writings, would that be only Black-American, Black-Caribbean, or Blacks from Africa or other overseas places? And if this is the case, does she read writings from Black professionals, regular Joes, or only those that work in a medical office? 

 

If she is Christian, then she cannot read the Bible, since many of its writers were not 'Nubian'. And she probably does not know that the famous movie about race and the all-consuming fight among Blacks of 'Light vs. Dark' "Imitation of Life", was actually written by Fannie Hurst, a young, Jewish woman?

We learn to be writers by having something to say. But first, we must read widely to have something in our head in order to write. I hate to think of how little this medical office employee knows, or how limited and narrow is her experience. Most frightening to think still: she's college educated, or, at least received certification in her field. How did she bypass this prejudiced view when digesting her own textbooks? 

 

We owe it to ourselves as human beings to read widely, to take in as much of human wisdom as is available to us. It's been seven years since this conversation and it still burns me. I only hope this young woman has grown a little from having such childish views.

Geisha-Friends by Ms. Carmen Welsh

Geisha-Friends

Art by Ms. Carmen Welsh

I start with an illustration in mind. Then I lay out all the materials: white cardstock for background, transparent glue, scissors, and the regular- -to-postcard-size cardstock for that particular piece.

Afterward, I sit and begin to cut out pieces for the body, the clothes, the setting, and lay these aside in different piles.

I use the corners to focus the picture, almost as a semi-frame, and then begin to paste the background setting first, and then paste pieces as a layer to show foreground.

TRADITIONAL MARRIED COUPLE

OUTRUNNING THE TYPHOON

CARRYING A LANTERN