Elise :)

Danez Smith. The author of “ Don’t Call Us Dead” to summarize the book I feel like he had no doubts when making this book. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him, he had no shame in his writing. After finding out that he was HIV positive I’m pretty sure he thought his life was over. After locking eyes with death he knew he had to change his life around .In one of his poems “ Dear White America” he talks about police brutality against black men which is a really big issue in america right now. I feel like he puts his voice in his writing and in reality for many black americans. Even though he doesn’t actually say that he’s talking about police brutality, he gives little hits and leaves the reader hanging like “ whats next” . He also calls the folks who died his “ brothers and sisters”. He also talks about blck women and writes a poem about another really big issue that makes african american or even any women of color feel less than.

Even though I dont know him personally I feel like I’ve known this man for years. Also everything he talking about ( mostly about me being black ) I can relate to. People think that me being light skin, gives me more opportunities life but it doenst. When I was younger, in about 1st or second grade, I would get bullied about how light I was from the rest of the class. They would call me “light bright” or “ high yella”. I struggled with my complexion all throu high school, laughing and smiling at the jokes but deep down I would ask why? Why me ? And Im not telling you this because I want you to feel bad for me, Im telling you this because people have feelings. They may not show you at the moment but … trust me they feel it. Now that I look at it I see that they were just young dumb and ignorant .

Over all I think that the book wants the reader to see what a day in the life of a black, homosexual, HIV ,MAN in america feels like. And I capitalize MAN because he has the balls to actually say what he feels after years of torture and endless fighting to live a happy life.It also lets the reader know that they are not alone, that they are not the only person who has experienced something horrible in their life. He wants people to wake up and not smell the roses, but to wake up and realize that this is real life. That people are dying everyday for a change.

Elise Madison Hill is the name my mother and aunt gave me. At first my name WAS going to be Madison Elise, but my aunt said that didn’t sound right so my mom just switched it around. I believe it was around 6:30 in the morning on October 18^th when I made my very first appearance. My mom was on her way to the hospital, but clearly, I couldn’t wait to meet her. My mother told me that my grandmother rushed to her house as soon as my mom told her she was in labor. The firefighters (crazy but my uncle was on call that night… and guess who showed up 😊) and EMTs are all outside the house, people are talking and making noise, but my mom surprisingly calm (from what my grandma told me). Long story short I show up with a veil over my face. Many people believe that when a baby is born with a veil is a sign of special destiny and psychic abilities or good luck. I’m going to let you know now, lol I don’t have ANY psychic abilities, nor have I hit the lottery 😊

Only child syndrome is the MYTH that children are lonely, selfish, spoiled and impatient. By saying that, Yes, I am on only child and no I’m not spoiled or selfish or lonely. #Throwback In 3^rd grade this boy stood up on a table (he got in trouble for me) just so I would smile. And at parent teacher meetings my teacher Ms. Taylor said she lets me do whatever I want to do in her class because she’s an only child too. Anyways back to the point. BLAH BLACK only child this only child that. Some say I’m lucky and others feel bad for me because they believe that I was a lonely boring child. Even though that is only haft true I feel like my mom, dad and family did a great job raising me.

A lot of people say I have a RBF (I’m going to let you look that up on your on time) others say I look really mean/mad. Deep down I’m probably thinking about what my dog is doing or pizza. I’m honestly the goofiest and funniest person I’ve ever met. You have to get to know me, well honestly you can just say “ Hey” and I’ll start laughing or smiling. I mean other than my RBF I’m a cool person to hang out with ( wink wink) .