That Time I Met Gwendolyn Brooks

Years later, I ponder the reasons I’d never learned about her in school.

It practically kills me to admit this, but as a young writer I was once in the presence of greatness — an award-winning, nationally recognized author. I spent the whole day with her. Yet, I knew close to nothing about her.

Crazy, right?

What made it worse was that Gwendolyn Brooks not only had the same cinnamon-hued skin tone as me, but she had the accolades I could’ve only dreamed of having. Ms. Brooks was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and novelist. In fact, in 1950 she became the first black American to win the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry, Annie Allen. Among her numerous other honors, she was named Poet Laureate of Illinois and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (Poet Laureate of the United States).

I’m not sure whose fault it was that I had little knowledge of Ms. Brooks’ achievements.

I could blame the school system that miseducated me. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, the seat of civil rights and democracy, yet my teachers offered very few lessons in black history. Maybe my parents should’ve taught me more about notable black Americans in history. But, honestly, they were older parents — both born in the 1920s. My history was…