Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Being “famous” for being a writer is interesting, to say the least. People either know you (and love or hate you) or have zero idea you exist. I cannot tell you how many people I’ve had to say, “It’s okay” because their friend introduced me as, “You know…PANAMA JACKSON FROM VSB!!!” I wait as they sympathetically try to recall ANY reason they might know me. It can be quite humbling. To top it off, I’m a writer without a book. I basically have to explain to people that I’m a blogger who leveled up and a podcaster. Let’s just say that on occasion, I feel that it sounds like, “You don’t know this 40-something aspiring rapper?!??!”
It’s not all bad, or even mostly bad. Most of the time when I go out places, I run into people I know largely because of writing and because of the opportunities that I’ve gotten because of writing that have put me in the public eye. I’ve been on television, radio, magazines, etc. Being a writer, of the pop cultural persuasion is one of those professions that people “get” when they see you in places they recognize…like television, radio and magazines. The first time I was on television (it was a segment on BET’s “Weekly with Ed Gordon” show — I cannot find video of it to save my life, but I have a picture with Ed Gordon) I got lots of phone calls and hi-fives from family and friends who finally understood that this blogging-thing was a thing thing.
When you show up on television and then show up in other places folks might find on their own, you start to wade into “somebody” space and then gain some access to a bit of “fame.” And if you live on the internet, as I do, for work and such, then your family and friends can google you and see your accomplishments all over the place whenever they want.
Which brings me to my 7-year-old,…
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