{"id":4124,"date":"2016-08-18T05:50:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T11:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4124"},"modified":"2016-08-18T05:50:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-18T11:50:16","slug":"my-qa-with-renee-watson-i-too-arts-collective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4124","title":{"rendered":"My Q&#038;A with Ren\u00e9e Watson: I, Too, Arts Collective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2016\/08\/Renee -- photo credit is NAACPuse.jpg\" style=\"float:right;\"><strong><font size=6>&#8220;<\/strong><\/font><em><strong><font color=\"#777777\">Langston\u2019s poetry was an early mirror for me. As a child, I didn\u2019t read many novels where the characters looked like me, talked like me, were concerned with the same issues I was worried about. Poetry was where I found my people. In the lines and stanzas of Langston\u2019s poems, my grandmother called out to me, my dark skin and crinkly hair was beautiful, and the stories of my ancestors were honored. There was strength, anger, grace, and ambition all there for the taking. I needed that as a child, and I believe our young people need that now. &#8220;<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Over at <em>Kirkus<\/em> today, I talk to children&#8217;s book and YA author <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reneewatson.net\/\">Ren\u00e9e Watson<\/a><\/strong>, pictured above, about I, Too, Arts Collective, her initiative to turn the brownstone in Harlem where legendary poet Langston Hughes once lived into \u201ca space for poets, a space to honor his legacy.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>That is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kirkusreviews.com\/features\/holding-fast-dream-renee-watson\/\">here<\/a><\/strong> this morning. <\/p>\n<p>Until tomorrow &#8230; <\/p>\n<p><center>* * * * * * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><em>Photo of Ren\u00e9e taken by NAACP and used by her permission.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Langston\u2019s poetry was an early mirror for me. As a child, I didn\u2019t read many novels where the characters looked like me, talked like me, were concerned with the same issues I was worried about. Poetry was where I found my people. In the lines and stanzas of Langston\u2019s poems, my grandmother called out to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}