Today, I have the pleasure and honor of interviewing Marcus Harrison Green.
Marcus is the publisher of the South Seattle Emerald, and a columnist with the Seattle Times.
Growing up in South Seattle, he experienced first-hand the impact of one-dimensional stories on marginalized communities, which taught him the value of authentic narratives. After an unfulfilling stint in the investment world during his twenties, Marcus returned to his community with a newfound purpose of telling stories with nuance, complexity, and multidimensionality with the hope of advancing social change.
This led him to become a writer and to found the South Seattle Emerald. He was awarded the Seattle Human Rights Commissions’ Individual Human Rights Leader Award for 2020.
On a more personal note, Marcus is a word nerd. He is part of our community, and when he reached out to share that he would be publishing his first collection of essays—Readying to Rise—I knew we had to have him on the show.
In this episode Marcus Harrison Green and I discuss:
- How he achieved a unity of voice as he put together his debut essay collection.
- The importance of looking honestly at ourselves and how that can make society better.
- Why he loves living the life of the writer and what it allows him to do in the world.
Plus, his #1 tip for writers.
About Marcus Harrison Green
Marcus Harrison Green is the publisher of the South Seattle Emerald, and a columnist with the Seattle Times. Growing up in South Seattle, he experienced first-hand the impact of one-dimensional stories on marginalized communities, which taught him the value of authentic narratives. After an unfulfilling stint in the investment world during his twenties, Marcus returned to his community with a newfound purpose of telling stories with nuance, complexity, and multidimensionality with the hope of advancing social change. This led him to become a writer and found the South Seattle Emerald. He was awarded the Seattle Human Rights Commissions’ Individual Human Rights Leader Award for 2020.
Readying to Rise
Social justice is an ideal. It’s not a reality. And while there are moments that make it feel tantalizingly close, the moment that follows often punts it right back to the far distance. Growing up black in south Seattle, journalist and essayist Marcus Harrison Green has a keen sense of exactly where and how things break down. From his own experience in the classroom and at the hands of police to his fierce dissection of the racism baked into media and journalism, Green makes poetry of the clarity that comes after long reflection.
In this collection, Green bears sharp witness to the Black Lives Matter movement, his own journey into and out of religious faith, his grandmother’s lessons, his battle with bipolar disorder, human mortality, blatant hypocrisy, and much more.
He shines a light on what hurts the most deeply in us: not only the brutal injustice of a world built by the powerful for the powerful but the close proximity of that brutality to a persistent kernel of hope.
Yet because there is hope, there is conviction. Green never falters in the knowledge that the struggle itself is something to tie ourselves to and define ourselves by. With astute analyses, evocative imagery, profound empathy, and the ability to laugh at it all, these essays, even with their collective weight, leave us much lighter than they found us.
If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!
Link to Episode 384
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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!
