The First 100 Subscribers

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

This evening, I want to thank my first 100 subscribers for their readership and support. In particular, a shout-out goes to “NYladubois” and “Rich Levy” who put me over the top. And, of course, my steadfast supporters since the summer time — Kayleen Hunsaker, R.A. Watman, the Journal of Free Black Thought. Remember those inspired times on the tropical island, cannibal tales and black hair?

I also thank other readers who have quietly shared their thumbs up in private e-mails and Facebook messages since I launched this lonely Substack on March 23, 2023. Those were interesting early times as my dislocated right shoulder kept me up at crazy hours of the night.

Why do I write and continue at this endeavor? Every evening, the silver screen beckons me to put aside the keyboard and succumb to another Twilight Zone and Star Trek marathon. Or, I could read a good book. I have five books in queue. These books will not read themselves. So, I must go on for some reason.

Sometimes I witness my University president falling short of moral leadership. And I feel called to give voice to my disappointment. Sometimes, I an annoyed when law professors write as if all of racial life is negative. I feel compelled to point out the racial despair, unwarranted as it might be. There are times when I witness a black resort worker mindlessly caressing the red hair of a white toddler and my intuition tells me to write the moment down. Sometimes, I wake up on a weekend morning and I see plainly how racial life is better in 48 ways compared to the year 1959. And then there are times when I write my life, a southern suburban life rooted in generations of family, because I never see my small-town, normal life reflected in race literature.

These are the reasons I write. I live amongst family members today content to live unexamined lives. People should know these self-evident truths, that one can be too white for some and too black for others.

So I write.