25 Writers Shaping My World

Educator Marva Collins once said 'readers are leaders'. Nowhere has that statement proven to be so emphatically true as to note the major difference between the last two presidents.

Our current one loves to read and wrote two books of his own, the last one brags he never did despite being married to a woman with a library science degree. You can see how the country turned out as a result of being under the misleadership of a non-reader.

I've been reading since I was two, when to my mom's surprise I picked up one of her college textbooks and wasn't 'scurred' to read and pronounce the 'big words' contained in them.

So you can thank Electronic Villager for this post since I got tagged by him. I get to tell y'all who are the twenty five readers who shaped my world.


1. Martin Luther King
2. Alex Haley
3. Ralph Ellison
4. Toni Morrison
5. Alice Walker

6. Randall Robinson
7. John Hope Franklin
8. Barack Obama
9. Malcolm X
10. W.E.B DuBois

11. Eric Jerome Dickey
12. Kayla Perrin
13. Omar Tyree
14. E. Lynn Harris
15. Terry McMillan

16. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
17. Zora Neale Hurston
18. Pat Califa
19. Susan L. Taylor
20. James Carville

21. Marcus Major
22. Jimmy Carter
23. Molly Ivins
24. Tavis Smiley
25. Farai Chideya

The 25 writers who made my list contributed different things to shaping my world. Some gave me a different way of looking at the world in terms of theory. Some armed me with the information I needed to be able to articulately whack racism, prejudice, and right wing conservatism. Some expressed their hopes for an America that lives up to its Constitutional promise and warned us when it was veering off track.

The fiction writers infotained me. They not only drew me into the worlds they created and made me laugh or cry, they also provided some insightful commentary at the same time on love, relationships and various other issues pertaining to the Black community.

Some authors I tuned to for inspiration, education, enlightenment and empowerment.

There are also various books on my shelf that I read such as biographies, history, self-help, sci-fi, writing books to perfect my craft, or cover various issues that pique my interest.

And if you think I'm sleepin' on the facts, I'm armed with the last six issues of the World Almanac that I read cover to cover and keep within easy reach of my computer along with books to help me select the right quote to fit into what I'm writing.

Those 25 writers and many others not only shaped my world, they continue to do so.