i've been thinking about the hyperbole all of us can fall into when we talk about books—how we love being bold on main about "the ONE book you need to read about xyz!" when honestly no one book should become THE book about an experience.

the only path we have of minimizing our collective tendency to project the experience of one person onto *all people* who share an aspect of their identity is to read/buy/publish/support more stories, especially by those whose identities are at risk of being pigeonholed the most.

let's not make marginalized creators feel as though they have to scramble to be the *one voice* that gets the chance to be in the room or the permission to *represent* an entire community. let's give them the chance to create a rich, multifaced canon of their own stories instead.

representation is an honor but it can also be a burden and sometimes people just want to be able to create without having to navigate living under the shadow of being the spokesperson for an entire identity.

see below this problem has existed for decades and i'm so glad more people are talking about it https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-black-women-crime-writers-0814-20200825-zheflsz4bbepdeoewktuh5togi-story.html