She was born in November 1963/The day Aldous Huxley died/And her mama believed/That everyone could be free
“RUN, BABY, RUN,” SHERYL CROW
The summer of 1975, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and fitted with a form-fitting plastic body brace anchored with aluminum rods and spanning from my pelvic bone to my chin. This was a hell of a way to start my ninth grade at Woodruff Junior High.
I would wear that brace 23 hours a day, gradually weaning myself off the support as my vertebrae both (mostly) repaired their disfigurement and eventually stopped growing; this meant I wore the brace for much of my high school experience as well.
My childhood and teen years were a contradiction of Southern racism, ignorance, and bigotry warmly wrapped in the blanket of my loving and doting working-class parents. My scoliosis was a significant financial burden on my parents (who never flinched at the medical care it required), but it also in some ways broke their hearts.
I was a skinny and very anxious human, deeply self-conscious and introverted CONTINUE READING: On Reading and Comic Books: A Journey from 1975 to 2021 (and Beyond) – radical eyes for equity