An Open Letter To My Stepkid
Dear Jannah, There there a few reasons that I write this, the foremost being the obligation to tell my own story, an obligation incited by your unsound attempt to narrate your own excerpt. The author Nathan McCall is one of my heroes. Our lives parallel at points (he grew up in my parents' neighborhood, went to prison, embraced Islam, became a writer) and I began conversing with him in 2012, which sealed the deal for me. Of course there are detractors, who tell me to be quiet, to "let itgo," but I remain resolute. There's another favorite author of mine who suffered for not being quiet. Instead she spoke up...and got shot in the face for 3 words. Those 3 words that brought her a world of pain, set her, and many others free. She said, "I am Malala," and changed the world. I am not Malala, but she is like me - I gotta a big mouth, and of course you know I'm going to reply to anyone who claps at me in the craven way you did. It's easy, isn'