R.A.’s Comments (group member since Aug 01, 2013)

R.A.’s comments from the Author Chat with R. A. Russell group.

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Much thanks to the group for participating in or observing this chant.

Lil's Place was not modeled after an existing shelter/escort service. We all know there are women's shelters. There are also regulated escort services in California, which are licensed entities like Lil's Place. I decided to combine the two to create the Lil's Place environment.

Shame leads to secrets. The question is when and to whom those secrets should be disclosed. In certain communities, things just don't get talked about, which gives power to the unspoken word.

Alicia's circumstances dictate her choices. Some of her choices have to be contextualized by the morality of the times and her family circumstances. Given that she's the daughter of two prominent people and the year is 1975, it is likely that she would feel shame just from her pregnancy. The fact that it's the wrong boy only adds to her misery. In 1984, I ran into a young, unmarried woman contemplating adoption, whose parents threatened to disown her unless she gave her baby away. For her family, an unwed mother brought shame to the family. Today, there's much more tolerance for these situations.

Alicia struggles with the decision to join the Lil's Place escort service, but at the time it appears to be her best option. She doesn't expect to work in that role for as long as she does, and then circumstances force her to take over the operation. Her circumstances are dictating her choices, although some of us might make other choices.

Thank you, Ramona. Nice!

Karen posted a message about a month ago that I would like to respond to in this chat. Of mixed bloodline, Karen felt that she was treated as a lesser person by certain groups as she was growing up. Unfortunately, this is a problem that has not completely gone away. Sometimes mixed-race children grow up with a feeling that they belong to neither group and are accepted by neither group. But the dynamic is a little different in the African American community, where mixed-race children typically align themselves as being black, because that's how they perceive themselves and are perceived by others. Confusion nevertheless sometimes reigns, especially when a child is raised exclusively by a white parent. Then the same sense of non-belonging may develop, and along with that an identity crisis. This is Alexi's problem in Raising Redemption, once he discovers that Alicia is his mother. Raised by a white couple, he finds Alicia and comes to understand his full bloodline.

This is a complicated issue, without easy practical solutions. The solution offered in Raising Redemption is that perceived differences can be eroded through the discovery of commonality. This is what Alicia finds with Lucy and the other women of Lil's Place, who become sisters even though they come from different races and cultural backgrounds. This is also what Karen apparently found among those groups of people with whom she bonded. Any thoughts?

Thanks, Gina, for both your comment and reading the book. Your comment raises the question as to whether families should keep significant, damaging information hidden from their children. Do family secrets eventually hurt the family?

Ramona brings two points together, as in shame results in secrets. I agree with her that it is better to come clean, because secrets give too much power to the unspoken word and can be destructive. In Raising Redemption, for example, the Tilman family keeps rape a secret, including within the family, which leads to the tragic downfall of a family member. That family member suffers from her own shame, and works to find redemption. In this sense, shame motivates her toward redemption, and she climbs to great heights. Did she ever get over her shame? Yes, but it wasn't because of her accomplishments. She eventually forgave herself.

A huge welcome to the group. I'm looking forward to discussing Raising Redemption with you and responding to your questions. I'll also have some questions to pose of my own. For those of you who participated in the giveaway, and to those of you who added the book to your to-read lists, much thanks, and I hope you enjoy this novel.

Raising Redemption is a novel of shame, secrets, sacrifice, and struggle. To what extent can shame be a positive motivating factor in one's life? What other positive factors would you identify that motivate a person to seek self-improvement?

Hi Everyone!
Just a reminder that we start the Author Chat on Monday. I'm looking forward to hearing from you and talking to you.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers!

Thanks for posting Karen. No you're not rambling. You've brought up a great issue about how light-skinned blacks are perceived in and out of the black community. I'm going to kick off our discussion on Sept 9 with your question. See you back here then. Thanks,

R. A.