A Year in Reading: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

I’ve noticed that some of my readers have taken to posting “trigger warnings” about my novel, , which deals with early African and Indigenous history in the American south. Sometimes, there are strings of at least 100 words, letting folks know all the horrible things that happen to the enslaved folks in my book. That doesn’t hurt my feelings—actually, I find it quite informative—but it does make me realize that, when it comes to the stories of African and Indigenous people(s) in this country, many folks don’t understand that We can either accept that fact, or we can remain soothed and oblivious—but then, we will continue to be bewildered when