Be Bigger, Fight Harr: Roxane Gay On A Lifetime Of 'Hunger' : NPR

Contents:

• ROXANE GAY ANSWERS YOUR QUTNS ABOUT RACE AND WRG
• ROXANE GAY: WHAT DO IT MEAN TO INTIFY AS A FEMIST?
• ‘WE’RE NOT GIVG UP’: ROXANE GAY TALKS RACE, REPRENTATN AND THE POWER OF BLACK ART'BAD FEMIST' THOR ROXANE GAY SS DOWN WH THE POT’S RACHAEL HOCKG TO DISCS RACE RELATNS ATRALIA, TERSECTNAL FEMISM AND WHY MOVI LIKE BLACK PANTHER MATTER.ROXANE GAY SPEAKS TO NITV ABOUT BLACK LIV MATTER, TEARG DOWN STATU AND A WORLD WH NO POLICE. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDROXANE GAY HAS BEEN TO ATRALIA THREE TIM, BUT HER FIRST ENUNTER WH THE UNTRY’S INDIGENO PEOPLE 2015 ME BEFORE SHE’D EVEN STEPPED OFF THE PLANE.‘ARE THERE ANY BLACK PEOPLE ATRALIA?’ SHE TWEETED.THE REACTN WAS SWIFT: ‘ARE YOU SER?’ ‘JT WOW.’ SOME SIMPLY MENTED, ‘ODD’.THE TERPRETATN OF THE TWEET BY MANY WAS THAT GAY WAS ERASG THE EXPERIENC OF INDIGENO PEOPL A LONISED UNTRY.WELL, NOT SO. SPEAKG TO NITV DURG HER RECENT VIS GAY EXPLAED THAT SHE SIMPLY WANTED A HAIR RELAXER.“I WAS THKG ABOUT HOW I WAS GOG TO NEED TO GET MY HAIR DONE WHILE I WAS SYDNEY AND I WAS WONRG IF THERE WERE ANY BLACK PEOPLE OF AIN SCENT ATRALIA, AND I DID NOT KNOW AT THE TIME THAT INDIGENO PEOPLE NSIR THEMSELV BLACK,” SHE SAYS.“I LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE INDIGENO MUNY HERE, SO END UP BEG A GOOD THG.”“ATRALIANS ARE VERY ATTACHED TO THIS NARRATIVE THAT ATRALIA IS A LAND EE OF RACISM”GAY RETURNED TO THE UNTRY MARCH FOR A DISCSN WH NSERVATIVE THKER AND SELF-TLED ‘FACTUAL FEMIST’ CHRISTA HOFF SOMMERS, AND ED THE TRIP TO LIVER SOME POTED OBSERVATNS ABOUT THE UNTRY’S RACE RELATNS.HER VIS CID WH A STATEMENT RELEASED BY QUEENSLAND SENATOR FRASER ANNG RPONSE TO THE CHRISTCHURCH MASSACRE. ANNG BLAMED MLIM IMMIGRATN FOR A MASSACRE PERPETRATED BY A WHE SUPREMACIST OM THE MID NORTH AST OF ATRALIA. THE SENATOR HAS SCE BEEN CENSURED A BIPARTISAN MOTN AND EXPELLED OM AN EXCLIVE QANTAS LOUNGE. BUT THAT HASN’T STOPPED THE DISGRACED SENATOR OM BEG ABLE TO REGISTER HIS OWN POLIL PARTY.“ATRALIANS ARE VERY ATTACHED TO THIS NARRATIVE THAT ATRALIA IS A LAND EE OF RACISM,” GAY SAYS.“I FD THAT TO BE EXPLIBLE GIVEN THE VERY REAL STATISTICS THAT ARE NOT THE ONLY STORY ABOUT THE INDIGENO MUNY, BUT DO SPEAK TO HISTORIL EQUALI THAT ARE VERY MUCH AT PLAY RIGHT NOW.”THIS NIAL WAS ON FULL DISPLAY WHEN GAY APPEARED ON THE ABC’S Q&A PROGRAM LAST MONTH, SHE SAYS.  DURG THE PROGRAM, GAY'S -PANELIST AND LIBERAL PARTY VICE-PRINT TEENA MCQUEEN RPOND TO A QUTN OM WIRADJURI AND MāORI WOMAN LATOYA RULE, WHO SAID SHE WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE RISE OF NEO-NAZISM HER HOME TOWN ALAI.MCQUEEN RPOND BY SAYG SHE DIDN’T “SEE THE GROWTH OF WHE SUPREMACISTS” AS A NCERNG ISSUE.“WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVG MUNI WHO ABSOLUTELY ENABLE AND UPLIFT WHE SUPREMACY,” GAY RPOND.“THEY LOOK THE OTHER WAY OR THEY DON'T SAY ANYTHG, OR THEY ENGAGE THE NVERSATNS, AND THEN WHEN PEOPLE POT OUT, THEY JT SAY, 'WHAT ARE YOU TALKG ABOUT?'”GAY SAYS TO BRIDGE THAT UNRSTANDG, PEOPLE OF LOUR OFTEN ASSUME THE DUTY OF TG THE WIR MUNY.“THE REALY IS WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO RRY WHE PEOPLE'S WATER," SHE SAYS."WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO TAKE THIS TIME OF TG THEM TIME AND AGA ABOUT THGS THAT HAVE BEEN GOG ON FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. AND YET HERE WE ARE.""OUR MUNI ARE GALVANISG"DPE THE VERY REAL ADVERSY BLACK MUNI THE UNED STAT AND ATRALIA ARE FACG RIGHT NOW, GAY SAYS SHE IS ENURAGED BY THE POWER OF BLACK ART.A FEW YEARS BACK, GAY ENTERED THE BLACK PANTHER UNIVERSE AS A WRER FOR THE IC BOOK SERI, WORLD OF WAKANDA, ALONG WH YONA HARVEY, THIS MA GAY THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN WRER OF A MARVEL SERI. ALTHOUGH WORLD OF WAKANDA WAS DISNTUED, GAY'S WORK HAS NOT. SHE HAS SCE RECENTLY TEASED A NEW IC BOOK SERI TLED, THE BANKS."I DO THK ’S A RPONSIBILY TO EXPAND THE BLACK IMAGATN AND SHOW BLACK PEOPLE AND BLACK CHILDREN WHAT IS POSSIBLE WH ENOUGH IMAGATN AND WH ENOUGH TEMERY,"GAY SAYS. "I AM ALSO ENURAGED BY THE WAYS WHICH OUR MUNI ARE GALVANISG, AND EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE THE OVERWHELMG THGS THAT WE’RE FACG, WE ARE NOT BEG PLACENT AND WE’RE NOT GIVG UP."YOU N WATCH THE FULL TERVIEW WH ROXANE GAY HERE: SHAREFOLLOW NITVFACEBOOKTWTERSTAGRAMDELVE TO THE LATT INDIGENO NEWS AND FEATUR OM NITV'S AGENDA-SETTG PROGRAM, THE POT. READ MORE ABOUT NITVWATCH NOWHAVE A STORY OR MENT? CONTACT USDELVE TO THE LATT INDIGENO NEWS AND FEATUR OM NITV'S AGENDA-SETTG PROGRAM, THE POT.WATCH NOWFOLLOW NITVFACEBOOKTWTERSTAGRAM4 M READPUBLISHED 6 APRIL 2019 8:29AMUPDATED 6 APRIL 2019 9:23AMBY RACHAEL HOCKGSOURCE: THE POTTAGSENTERTAMENTCOUNTRYABORIGAL AND TORR STRA ISLANR PEOPLATRALIASHARE THIS WH FAY AND IENDSCOPY LKSHAREPOPULAR STORI
• ROXANE GAY: 2014 WAS THE YEAR OF 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'
• ROXANE GAY’S MASTERPIEC OF PRIVATE RAGE
• BE BIGGER, FIGHT HARR: ROXANE GAY ON A LIFETIME OF 'HUNGER'
• WATCH ROXANE GAY ON RACE

ROXANE GAY ANSWERS YOUR QUTNS ABOUT RACE AND WRG

Rear Center|Roxane Gay Answers Your Qutns About Race and Wrg ADVERTISEMENTVioThe bt-sellg thor speaks wh Rachel L. Swarns and John Eligon of The New York 25, 2017Roxane Gay, the bt-sellg thor of the memoir “Hunger, ” joed Rachel L. Gay wrote about recently The Tim’s Opn fans of Ms.

Gay — whose ank wrg has addrsed body image issu and sexualy om a eply personal perspective — tuned and thanked her for her “brave voice and thoughtful ments on very plex and difficult topics, ” as one viewer, Cara Hser, wrote on Facebook. Gay’s readg and wrg habs, particularly durg difficult tim. Gay said.

ROXANE GAY: WHAT DO IT MEAN TO INTIFY AS A FEMIST?

Roxane Gay: What Do It Mean To Intify As A Femist? About Roxane Gay's TED Talk Roxane Gay is a wrer, a Haian-Amerin, a bisexual, and a femist — albe a self-proclaimed bad one. About Roxane Gay Roxane Gay is a wrer and profsor of English at Purdue Universy whose work foc on women's rights, race and inty.

Th was Roxane Gay propelled to the lerary stratosphere and – as such fairytal tend to go – sted to be forever after probed about the current state of femism.So, ne years on, do the wrer, edor, profsor, podster, cultural cric, and Gloria Steem Endowed Chair Media, Culture and Femist Studi at Rutgers Universy, New Jersey, still nsir herself a bad femist?

“I thk I’m a better femist now than I was,” says Gay when we meet on Zoom. And, many areas, such as reproductive eedom, we have lost ground, which is a bter pill to swallow.”It is mid-morng New York and Gay, 48, is drkg a takeaway cup of ffee the eav of the brownstone hoe she shar wh her wife Debbie Millman.

‘WE’RE NOT GIVG UP’: ROXANE GAY TALKS RACE, REPRENTATN AND THE POWER OF BLACK ART'BAD FEMIST' THOR ROXANE GAY SS DOWN WH THE POT’S RACHAEL HOCKG TO DISCS RACE RELATNS ATRALIA, TERSECTNAL FEMISM AND WHY MOVI LIKE BLACK PANTHER MATTER.ROXANE GAY SPEAKS TO NITV ABOUT BLACK LIV MATTER, TEARG DOWN STATU AND A WORLD WH NO POLICE. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDROXANE GAY HAS BEEN TO ATRALIA THREE TIM, BUT HER FIRST ENUNTER WH THE UNTRY’S INDIGENO PEOPLE 2015 ME BEFORE SHE’D EVEN STEPPED OFF THE PLANE.‘ARE THERE ANY BLACK PEOPLE ATRALIA?’ SHE TWEETED.THE REACTN WAS SWIFT: ‘ARE YOU SER?’ ‘JT WOW.’ SOME SIMPLY MENTED, ‘ODD’.THE TERPRETATN OF THE TWEET BY MANY WAS THAT GAY WAS ERASG THE EXPERIENC OF INDIGENO PEOPL A LONISED UNTRY.WELL, NOT SO. SPEAKG TO NITV DURG HER RECENT VIS GAY EXPLAED THAT SHE SIMPLY WANTED A HAIR RELAXER.“I WAS THKG ABOUT HOW I WAS GOG TO NEED TO GET MY HAIR DONE WHILE I WAS SYDNEY AND I WAS WONRG IF THERE WERE ANY BLACK PEOPLE OF AIN SCENT ATRALIA, AND I DID NOT KNOW AT THE TIME THAT INDIGENO PEOPLE NSIR THEMSELV BLACK,” SHE SAYS.“I LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE INDIGENO MUNY HERE, SO END UP BEG A GOOD THG.”“ATRALIANS ARE VERY ATTACHED TO THIS NARRATIVE THAT ATRALIA IS A LAND EE OF RACISM”GAY RETURNED TO THE UNTRY MARCH FOR A DISCSN WH NSERVATIVE THKER AND SELF-TLED ‘FACTUAL FEMIST’ CHRISTA HOFF SOMMERS, AND ED THE TRIP TO LIVER SOME POTED OBSERVATNS ABOUT THE UNTRY’S RACE RELATNS.HER VIS CID WH A STATEMENT RELEASED BY QUEENSLAND SENATOR FRASER ANNG RPONSE TO THE CHRISTCHURCH MASSACRE. ANNG BLAMED MLIM IMMIGRATN FOR A MASSACRE PERPETRATED BY A WHE SUPREMACIST OM THE MID NORTH AST OF ATRALIA. THE SENATOR HAS SCE BEEN CENSURED A BIPARTISAN MOTN AND EXPELLED OM AN EXCLIVE QANTAS LOUNGE. BUT THAT HASN’T STOPPED THE DISGRACED SENATOR OM BEG ABLE TO REGISTER HIS OWN POLIL PARTY.“ATRALIANS ARE VERY ATTACHED TO THIS NARRATIVE THAT ATRALIA IS A LAND EE OF RACISM,” GAY SAYS.“I FD THAT TO BE EXPLIBLE GIVEN THE VERY REAL STATISTICS THAT ARE NOT THE ONLY STORY ABOUT THE INDIGENO MUNY, BUT DO SPEAK TO HISTORIL EQUALI THAT ARE VERY MUCH AT PLAY RIGHT NOW.”THIS NIAL WAS ON FULL DISPLAY WHEN GAY APPEARED ON THE ABC’S Q&A PROGRAM LAST MONTH, SHE SAYS.  DURG THE PROGRAM, GAY'S -PANELIST AND LIBERAL PARTY VICE-PRINT TEENA MCQUEEN RPOND TO A QUTN OM WIRADJURI AND MāORI WOMAN LATOYA RULE, WHO SAID SHE WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE RISE OF NEO-NAZISM HER HOME TOWN ALAI.MCQUEEN RPOND BY SAYG SHE DIDN’T “SEE THE GROWTH OF WHE SUPREMACISTS” AS A NCERNG ISSUE.“WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVG MUNI WHO ABSOLUTELY ENABLE AND UPLIFT WHE SUPREMACY,” GAY RPOND.“THEY LOOK THE OTHER WAY OR THEY DON'T SAY ANYTHG, OR THEY ENGAGE THE NVERSATNS, AND THEN WHEN PEOPLE POT OUT, THEY JT SAY, 'WHAT ARE YOU TALKG ABOUT?'”GAY SAYS TO BRIDGE THAT UNRSTANDG, PEOPLE OF LOUR OFTEN ASSUME THE DUTY OF TG THE WIR MUNY.“THE REALY IS WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO RRY WHE PEOPLE'S WATER," SHE SAYS."WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO TAKE THIS TIME OF TG THEM TIME AND AGA ABOUT THGS THAT HAVE BEEN GOG ON FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. AND YET HERE WE ARE.""OUR MUNI ARE GALVANISG"DPE THE VERY REAL ADVERSY BLACK MUNI THE UNED STAT AND ATRALIA ARE FACG RIGHT NOW, GAY SAYS SHE IS ENURAGED BY THE POWER OF BLACK ART.A FEW YEARS BACK, GAY ENTERED THE BLACK PANTHER UNIVERSE AS A WRER FOR THE IC BOOK SERI, WORLD OF WAKANDA, ALONG WH YONA HARVEY, THIS MA GAY THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN WRER OF A MARVEL SERI. ALTHOUGH WORLD OF WAKANDA WAS DISNTUED, GAY'S WORK HAS NOT. SHE HAS SCE RECENTLY TEASED A NEW IC BOOK SERI TLED, THE BANKS."I DO THK ’S A RPONSIBILY TO EXPAND THE BLACK IMAGATN AND SHOW BLACK PEOPLE AND BLACK CHILDREN WHAT IS POSSIBLE WH ENOUGH IMAGATN AND WH ENOUGH TEMERY,"GAY SAYS. "I AM ALSO ENURAGED BY THE WAYS WHICH OUR MUNI ARE GALVANISG, AND EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE THE OVERWHELMG THGS THAT WE’RE FACG, WE ARE NOT BEG PLACENT AND WE’RE NOT GIVG UP."YOU N WATCH THE FULL TERVIEW WH ROXANE GAY HERE: SHAREFOLLOW NITVFACEBOOKTWTERSTAGRAMDELVE TO THE LATT INDIGENO NEWS AND FEATUR OM NITV'S AGENDA-SETTG PROGRAM, THE POT. READ MORE ABOUT NITVWATCH NOWHAVE A STORY OR MENT? CONTACT USDELVE TO THE LATT INDIGENO NEWS AND FEATUR OM NITV'S AGENDA-SETTG PROGRAM, THE POT.WATCH NOWFOLLOW NITVFACEBOOKTWTERSTAGRAM4 M READPUBLISHED 6 APRIL 2019 8:29AMUPDATED 6 APRIL 2019 9:23AMBY RACHAEL HOCKGSOURCE: THE POTTAGSENTERTAMENTCOUNTRYABORIGAL AND TORR STRA ISLANR PEOPLATRALIASHARE THIS WH FAY AND IENDSCOPY LKSHAREPOPULAR STORI

“I am a wonrful marriage,” Gay tells me. “I’m so imprsed by my wife all the time.”As an terviewee, Gay keeps her distance.

ROXANE GAY: 2014 WAS THE YEAR OF 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'

Such quali are too often terpreted as ldns or ferocy women, but the abidg imprsn Gay giv is of someone who is not gog to promise herself. “My work here is done.”Last year Gay argued that ncel culture “is the bogeyman that people have e up wh to expla away bad behavur” and she prefers to thk terms of nsequence culture. At what pot do we make different choic?”In Bad Femist, Gay admted listeng to “thuggish rap … even though the lyrics are gradg to women and offend me to my re”.

ROXANE GAY’S MASTERPIEC OF PRIVATE RAGE

More recently she took her podst – The Roxane Gay Agenda, which she talks, mostly to Black women, about issu cludg race, femism, pop culture and polics – off Spotify over s “unfettered accs” to the “misrmatn” spread by Joe Rogan.She isn’t nsirg leavg Twter, notg that sce Elon Mk’s takeover the platform hasn’t “gotten measurably worse for me bee ’s always been terrible.

We’re havg better nversatns about transgenr issu and unrstandg genr as a spectm, but also seeg a lot of phback.” The week after we speak Gay is one of nearly 1,000 New York Tim ntributors to sign an open letter nmng the newspaper’s verage of trans, non-bary, and genr non-nformg people.

It ntu bee not enough people say: ‘You are wrong, you are toxic, you are absurdly, embarrassgly agile.’”Gay is jugglg an overwhelmg number of projects: her podst and publishg imprt, film and TV scriptwrg (she was the first Black woman to wre for Marvel, penng the Black Panther: World of Wakanda ic seri), a book of wrg advice lled How to Be Heard, a llectn of TV cricism, a pilatn of opn piec for the New York Tim and the Guardian US, and “a few novels” – cludg a young adult novel and – y, the mours are te – a romance wh Channg Tatum.

BE BIGGER, FIGHT HARR: ROXANE GAY ON A LIFETIME OF 'HUNGER'

Her mother has stage four ncer and last year Gay’s brother, Joel, died sudnly at the age of 43.

You’re supposed to learn om , but I would rather not know what I’ve learned and have my brother here than know what I know and have him gone.”Gay and her two younger brothers grew up a lovg, relig, strict hoehold Omaha, Nebraska. In the earlier years thgs were very good.”‘The world feels entled to your trma’ … Gay.In Hunger, Gay wrote spare and ntatory prose of what she had touched upon Bad Femist. After, Gay turned to food, and turned her body to a fortrs.

By the end of Hunger, which remas the harst thg she’s ever done, Gay had ma a tentative peace wh her body. Two years later, the midst of the global panmic, they ncelled the huge weddg they had planned – to be officiated by Gloria Steem, naturally – and eloped.Gay has said that wrg and readg lerally saved her life.

WATCH ROXANE GAY ON RACE

There’s no need to be jealo bee we each have awome thgs gog on.”In 2018, Gay unrwent weight loss surgery. “That’s one of the key thgs I talk about whenever I talk about wrg trma,” Gay says. You are ntrol of your own story.”Roxane Gay will appear at the Women of the World ftival, Royal Ftival Hall, London, on 12 March and is on tour the UK at the Usher Hall, Edburgh (9 March), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (11 March), the Fom Alumni Audorium at the Universy of Exeter (14 March) and The Fom, Bath (15 March and will be livtreamed on Fane Onle.

’ Neher Should Simpson/Hser & WirthRoxane GayDr.

Gay, a ntributg Opn wrer, is the edor of “The Selected Works of Audre Lor” and the thor of the memoir “Hunger, ” among others. We’re only human, and so, too, are the people who love Gay (@RGay) is a ntributg Opn wrer for The New York Tim. She wr a newsletter, “The Audacy, ” and she hosts the podst “The Roxane Gay Agenda.