Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Born Bright
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 4/27/1976
WEBSITE: http://cnicolemason.com/index/
CITY: Brooklyn
STATE: NY
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
Lives in Brooklyn, NY, and Washington, DC.* http://www.essence.com/2016/08/16/c-nicole-mason-poverty-success-academic * http://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/fellows/entry/dr.-c.-nicole-mason
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2016030269
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2016030269
HEADING: Mason, C. Nicole, 1976-
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670 __ |a Her Born bright, 2016: |b ECIP title page (C. Nicole Mason) data view, etc. (Dr. Nicole Mason; executive director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest (CR2PI); visiting professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia; her writing and commentary has appeared in newspapers and outlets including MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, Real Clear Politics, the Nation, the Huffington Post, among others; born April 27, 1976)
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PERSONAL
Born April 27, 1976; children: Charli and Parker (twins).
EDUCATION:Attended Howard University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Executive director and writer. New York University, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York, NY, former executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network; New York Women’s Foundation, New York, NY, executive director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest (CR2PI). Creator of the Lead the Way Initiative; inaugural Ascend fellow at the Aspen Institute, CO; visiting professor at Spelman College, Atlanta, GA.
AWARDS:Dillon Award in American Politics.
WRITINGS
Also author of Me First: A Deliciously Selfish Take on Life, Three Ducks in a Row Publishing, 2014. Contributor to periodicals, including Los Angeles Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nation, Progressive, Marie Claire, USA Today, New York Times, and Essence. Contributor to Web sites, including Politico, Nation, Spotlight on Poverty, Bustle, Big Think, and Huffington Post.
SIDELIGHTS
C. Nicole Mason works in philanthropy with a focus on issues concerning women of color and poverty. She is the creator of the Lead the Way Initiative for women of color who are emerging executive directors and midlevel managers working in the social sector. More than 100 leaders have gone through the program, with alumni including a presidential appointee and a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” recipient. Overall, Mason has worked for more than two decades on various social issues, including violence against women, economic security, and reproductive justice. From a stint as executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University, she is credited with guiding the network to become an important influence on public policies relating to women and communities of color and low-income families.
Mason has appeared on major television networks and is also a contributor to periodicals. In her memoir Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America, Mason recounts how she rose from poverty and learned to navigate two worlds, one as an outsider, and rise to academic excellence. In the process she discusses her views on the paths out of poverty and the numerous factors that make it almost impossible to escape that world. “I wrote Born Bright because I believed I had something to say and contribute to the conversation about the experiences of Black girls, women and communities in America,” Mason told Feminist Wire Web site contributor Aishah Shahidah Simmons, adding: “The stories we are told about Black women and girls in dominant media and culture are not reflective of our lived experiences and of who we are. They are caricatures or distortions. In my own way, I am attempting to right the record.”
The memoir focuses on the first eighteen years of Mason’s life, from her childhood in California to being accepted to historic Howard University. Mason was born to an unwed sixteen-year-old mother. Although her mother eventually married, her husband was a drug dealer who, though providing some semblance of stability, had a negative impact on their lives. The family moved around a lot, but Mason excelled in school. By the time she was a teenager, Mason was motivated to address the fact that she had to get away from her mother’s abusive partner and went to live with her grandmother in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mason reveals to readers the challenges she faced, including the pervasive risks faced by many young girls in her situation, such as the potential to resort to drugs, become pregnant, or fall in with a violent gang. The book details the many failings of social services and the U.S. criminal-justice system. Although she herself managed to excel at academics, Mason also examines how America’s educational system has generally failed the poor. Rebecca Vnuk, writing for Booklist, felt that Mason has “an interesting take on the issue of entrenched poverty in the U.S.”
As for her own experiences, Mason writes that she could feel herself being judged by the unwelcoming people around her whenever she ventured outside of her own neighborhood, mostly due to her academic pursuits. Mason points out that her road to success included joining every club and activity possible while she was in school and venturing to join one of her school’s honor classes even though she did not receive permission to do so. When it comes time to start thinking about college, Mason, through sheer persistence, ends up getting help from a guidance counselor to gain acceptance at Howard University.
“Mason vividly illustrates the grit, determination, and ‘herculean effort’ necessary to reframe a young life steeped in unyielding poverty,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Mary Jennings, writing for Library Journal, noted that Born Bright “will inspire readers interested in the strength of the human spirit in overcoming formidable obstacles.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Mason, C. Nicole, Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2016.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, August 1, 2016, Rebeca Vnuk, review of Born Bright, p. 16.
Library Journal, June 15, 2016, Mary Jennings, review of Born Bright, p. 83.
Publishers Weekly, June 13, 2016, review of Born Bright, p. 89.
ONLINE
Aspen Institute, Ascend Web site, http://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/ (March 22, 2017), author profile.
C. Nicole Mason Home Page, http://cnicolemason.com (March 22, 2017).
Essence Online, http://www.essence.com/ (August 16, 2016), Patrik Henry Bass, “Young, Gifted, Black and Poor! Author Details Climb from Poverty to Academic Success.”
Feminist Wire, http://www.thefeministwire.com/ (August 16, 2016), Aishah Shahidah Simmons, “The Making of a Bad Ass Black Feminist: A Conversation with C. Nicole Mason.”
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ (March 22, 2017), author profile.
Observer, http://observer.com/ (August 8, 2016), Josh Keefe, “What You Need to Know about Ending Poverty from Someone Who Overcame It.”
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About Nicole
headshotagainC. Nicole Mason is the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America (St. Martin’s Press) and heads up CR2PI at the New York Women’s Foundation. Her commentary and writing have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, POLITICO, The Nation, The Progressive, Spotlight on Poverty, Marie Claire Magazine, USA Today, ESSENCE Magazine, The New York Times, Bustle, BIG THINK, The Huffington Post and on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and NBC, among other outlets.
Most recently, she delivered a well-received TED talk at TEDWomen on the Courage to Disrupt and the Gift of Being Difficult.
Nicole is the Executive Director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest (CR2PI) at the New York Women’s Foundation. Nicole is also the creator of the Lead The Way Initiative for emerging women of color executive directors and mid-level managers working in the social sector. Since it’s inception, more than 100 leaders have cycled through the program including a Presidential Appointee and a McArthur Foundation Genius.
For more than two decades, Nicole has worked on a range of pressing social issues from violence against women to reproductive justice to economic security. She is also the former Executive Director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. There, she held the distinction of being one of the youngest scholar-practitioners to lead a major U.S. research center or think tank. Under her direction, the Network became a leading authority and voice on public policies impacting women of color, low-income families and communities of color.
Nicole is also an Inaugural Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Patricia Roberts Public Policy Fellow and received the Dillon Award in American Politics.
Nicole lives between Brooklyn, New York and Washington, DC and is mom to twins Charli and Parker and two dogs, Anderson & Sofia.
DR. C. NICOLE MASON
Dr. C. Nicole Mason
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND POLICY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: NEW YORK, NY
C. Nicole Mason is the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America (St. Martin’s Press) and heads up CR2PI at the New York Women’s Foundation. Her commentary and writing have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, POLITICO, The Nation, The Progressive, Spotlight on Poverty, Marie Claire Magazine, USA Today, ESSENCE Magazine, The New York Times, Bustle, BIG THINK, The Huffington Post and on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and NBC, among other outlets.
Most recently, she delivered a well-received TED talk at TEDWomen on the Courage to Disrupt and the Gift of Being Difficult.
Nicole is the Executive Director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest (CR2PI) at the New York Women’s Foundation. Nicole is also the creator of the Lead The Way Initiative for emerging women of color executive directors and mid-level managers working in the social sector. Since it’s inception, more than 100 leaders have cycled through the program including a Presidential Appointee and a McArthur Foundation Genius.
For more than two decades, Nicole has worked on a range of pressing social issues from violence against women to reproductive justice to economic security. She is also the former Executive Director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. There, she held the distinction of being one of the youngest scholar-practitioners to lead a major U.S. research center or think tank. Under her direction, the Network became a leading authority and voice on public policies impacting women of color, low-income families and communities of color.
Nicole is also an Inaugural Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Patricia Roberts Public Policy Fellow and received the Dillon Award in American Politics.
Nicole lives between Brooklyn, New York and Washington, DC and is mom to twins Charli and Parker and two dogs, Anderson & Sofia.
What You Need to Know About Ending Poverty From Someone Who Overcame It
C. Nicole Mason seeks to make the study of poverty personal in her new memoir
By Josh Keefe • 08/08/16 9:19am
Dr. C. Nicole Mason
Dr. C. Nicole Mason (Photo: Dewayne Rogers Photography)
Dr. C. Nicole Mason’s new memoir Born Bright tells the story of a smart and determined girl fighting her way out of poverty in Los Angeles during the late eighties and early nineties. The precocious Mason navigates street politics, a physically abusive mother, a sexually abusive, drug-dealing stepfather and an indifferent school system as she struggles to be the first one in her family to graduate high school.
She succeeds, and more: Dr. Mason, a leading scholar on poverty, now serves as executive director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest (CR2PI). Born Bright not only recounts how Mason overcame long odds but examines the odds themselves. Mason spoke with the Observer last week about her memoir, poverty and the policies that could alleviate the national scourge.
You’re an expert in the field of poverty research and policy. Why did you want to write this subjective, personal account? What I was interested in doing was telling a different story about poverty in the U.S., one that is humanizing and lets people see the real challenges from the inside-out. A lot of times we hear these stories from the outside-in from people who may or may not have lived in poverty. What I had was both those things; I was both an insider and an outsider. I have the policy training and background so I know the conversation at the national level. I also had this other perspective of having actually grown up facing some of those challenges that people talk about in an abstract way.
Do you come across many other researchers who have that kind of dual perspective? No. So what’s interesting is I’m usually in policy spaces or research spaces or I’m at conferences where the overwhelming majority of speakers and attendees are white. White men, really. They’re researchers. They take a very technical approach to the issue, “here are the numbers, this is what’s going on within a map of these communities.” But when women or families are asked to speak at these conventions it’s usually to tell their story. They’re not considered the experts. I’d be hard pressed to say that none of the people there have experienced hardship or poverty, but my experience is that there are very few researchers of color in this space and then there’s very little conversation about their history and background and what brings people to the work.
You mention at one point that when poor kids are asked to draw their world, they’re likely to draw their neighborhoods. While middle class and upper class kids will draw countries or the globe. How do you think that difference in the understanding of geography, and the child’s place in it, is affected by poverty? There’s the problem of never leaving your neighborhood and geographic isolation. There’s a lack of access to bridge opportunities. It wasn’t, for example, until I left in 1994 to go to Howard University that I had ever been on an airplane. I know a lot of my friends from my old neighborhood have still never been on an airplane. Or been outside of their community. Even thinking about LA, I say I’m from LA, and people say “What about the beach? What about Hollywood?” That’s not the LA that I know. What I think is true is that poor kids in poor communities are geographically isolated and tend to stay in their communities because they might not feel safe, they might not feel comfortable and nobody has invited them outside of their community. And when they’re in school the message they are getting is: this is all there is. This is this it. Nobody is saying there are other places outside of here.
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The other side of that is all the moving around you do in the book. You talk about your friends coming and going. They are also moving around a lot; their families are moving around a lot. It seems like there are two forces: there’s an isolation, but within that isolation there’s a transience. There’s a lot of people coming and going because of insecurity and vulnerability. So neighborhoods are destabilized. Unless there is subsidized housing where the housing is secure or rent stabilized, you stay in one place. But what is really interesting to note is I moved a lot but I’m moving to the same types of neighborhoods. It’s not like I’m moving from this low income neighborhood and the next week I’m moving to this really affluent neighborhood. I’m moving from place to place, and sometimes it’s a block away or a couple miles away but the neighborhood looks the same.
The book is really honest about your experiences and your family and friends. Have any of them read it? My mom read it. You can imagine. (Laughs). The first 200 pages or so she said, “Well, it’s your story to tell.” And then the last 40 pages she said she didn’t like the way she was portrayed at the end. I said “I don’t know what to say. It’s true.” She took issue in the beginning of me calling us poor. She told my father “She’s telling everyone we were poor!” I said “Well, it’s true.” Now the truth of the matter is we never thought we were poor. I didn’t know we were poor until I went to college. But we were poor. And that’s okay, it’s not a bad thing. It’s just true.
I really wanted to be honest but also to not judge the people in the community and my life. And also not do the same thing that happens to poor people all the time, which is they are made into spectacles. Or a prop or a pathology. I was really mindful to write it with love and understanding and compassion. Even when some of the things they were doing were not okay.
On one hand it is this kind of up-by-the-bootstraps, Horatio Alger-type story. But on the other hand it’s the exact opposite. It shows how you are an exception that proves the rule. Is that a tough line to walk while you were writing this? Well, first of all, there were smarter kids than me in the neighborhood. I saw the smartest kid in the neighborhood, and it wasn’t me. I saw what was happening. I think that was sort of humbling. I could say, “Yeah, I have this sort of exceptional narrative and I did it so you could do it too.” I knew that would be a lie. It would make people feel good, who say “Well, she did it so everyone can do it.” I just know that that’s not true and it’s really dishonest. And so what I try to do in the book is really complicate it a little bit. Make it more complex.
Born Bright
Born Bright by C. Nicole Mason. (Cover image from St. Martin's Press)
If you could change one policy or law or implement one piece of legislation to help people living in poverty, what would it be? Universal childcare, because that consumes a large chunk of people’s income. The second thing I would do is change education policy, where schools get funds based on their tax allocation
Because schools are funded by the local tax base. And it shouldn’t be that way. I would really work on equalizing the schools, the resources and the quality of teachers. I think schools are fundamentally important as a pathway out of poverty. And of course, I can easily say we should do something about welfare reform. We could or we could not. I think there’s so many things connected to that. But we could do better by our children at the start through schools and education and making sure parents aren’t spending all their money on childcare. Universal childcare, I mean, good luck getting that passed. But doing something about the quality of schools from K-12 would radically transform kids’ lives.
Throughout the book, you write about many friends whose lives were derailed by pregnancy. At one point you compare it to the equivalent of being jailed or the threat of violence for poor young men. But at the same time there was no discussion of birth control or safe sex. It’s just sort of “don’t get pregnant.” Is that something that’s changed since you were a teenager? Well, there are a lot of different sex-ed programs, and they’ve done away with abstinence only programs. But I think in general across race and across class sex is a very hard thing to talk about. I think for my mom, because she knew what it was like to be a young mom, she was really very vigilant. I think she did it subconsciously, I don’t think she was like “don’t end up like me” but more like “be careful.”
I think this is the issue: the conversation is never about if you become a teenage mom, how do you make sure you stay in school, maybe go to college? Because you still have hopes and dreams, you just got pregnant. But that’s not the story. The story is you got pregnant so your life is ruined. And that’s not the way it should be. It’s like “that’s it, you have a mark for the rest of your life.” And that’s not true. You can still be productive.
The book ends with you moving into your dorm at Howard University. But there are hints that the transition is not going to be easy. What happened after the book ends? How was adjusting to Howard? Thankfully, I was at Howard. Compared to other schools, and predominantly white schools, there was a high number of first generation college students there. So I wasn’t alone in that experience. But it was a middle-class, private institution. So there were those kinds of challenges. Learning rules, learning how to dress. There were just a lot of things I had no idea about. Now these days I say, “I’m from a little town called LA,” because even though I’m from a big city I felt like I might as well have been coming from a rural town in South Carolina or something. I felt very supported in my classes and I quickly learned middle-class codes. So nobody knew where I came from. And that was okay. I think it was tough in the beginning because I realized what I didn’t know and what I didn’t have. And I realized in that classroom the first semester that I was actually poor. I realized, ‘Oh my god, they’re talking about me.’ But it was really an affirming place.
How do you feel about universal basic income? When you asked me what policy I would implement, that was the first thing that popped into my head. But I know people push back on it a lot. I think the main thing is that what we’ve been doing has not been working. Period. There’s no way around it. The number of people living in poverty has not significantly changed over the last 20 years. I think it’s really time for us to start thinking about overhauling our systems and start thinking about what we could replace them with. If we gave everybody universal basic income, would it cost more than the programs and bureaucracy we are running now?
But it’s really time for us to take a sobering look at what’s not working and say “what can we imagine?” How can we move people out of poverty that makes sure they stay out of poverty? I believe universal basic income is worth exploring. It’s not worth adopting flat out. And if that happens, what can we do away with that isn’t working or hasn’t worked? I just think we need to be imaginative about our policies, and really start looking at our own biases and what’s underlying our thinking.
C. Nicole Mason, PhD
Author and Executive Director, CR2PI at the Washington Area Women's Foundation
C. Nicole Mason heads up CR2PI at the New York Women's Foundation and is the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America (St. Martin's Press). Her commentary and writing have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Marie Claire Magazine, The Chronicle of Higher Education, POLITICO, The Nation, The Progressive, Spotlight on Poverty, USA Today, ESSENCE Magazine, The Washington Post and on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and NBC, among other outlets. She lives between Brooklyn, New York & Washington, DC. She's also a mom to twins Charli and Parker.
The Making of a Bad Ass Black Feminist: A Conversation with C. Nicole Mason and Aishah Shahidah SimmonsBy Aishah Shahidah Simmons on August 16, 20162SHARESSHARE TWEET SHARE SHARE 0 COMMENTS
Born-Bright-cover-image-3750x2856Writing can be a transgressive and political act. At its best, a well-crafted and finely told story can point the reader in the direction of her healing, her power and her connection to the world and others.
In this interview with C. Nicole Mason, author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something In America (St. Martin’s Press, August 16, 2016) and Aishah Shahidah Simmons, an associate editor of The Feminist Wire and the producer/writer/director of the critically acclaimed film NO! The Rape Documentary, these long-time friends talk writing to transgress, simultaneously holding Black pain and joy, and just how a Bad Ass Black Feminist gets made.
The two met at Café Rue Dix, a French-Senegalese restaurant in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Aishah: Nicole, first let me share that Born Bright is such a captivating and triumphant memoir. And congratulations, it has received so much well-deserved advance praise.
I was pulled in from the very first page where you introduce us to little Nicole and talk about removing the middle class mask to tell your story, your truth. And you did. You left no stone unturned in your masterful retelling of the first eighteen years of your life. I was on an emotional roller coaster. It was a real tear jerker. I could not put it down until I was finished reading.
One of many things I love about Born Bright is that it’s not the egregiously painful “Pull yourself up from your bootstraps” narrative that has particular currency in today’s literary marketplace. It is a story that has become all too familiar when we talk about the experiences of Black and Brown people in America.
In the book, you place your experiences at the center of the narrative and use them to challenge the racist, sexist and classist beliefs that poor and working class Blacks are impoverished because of bad choices or intergenerational pathologies such as out of wedlock births, crime and high rates of single motherhood. Instead, you place the onus and responsibility on systems and institutions—the criminal-legal, education, and social welfare system– that maintain and perpetuate the vicious, cycle of racialized and gendered poverty in America.
Thank you for you this incredible gift, particularly in our current social and political moment.
Let’s get started. Why did you write Born Bright and what is the significance of you writing it in this political moment and time?
Nicole: There’s no doubt that we are living in bloody and tumultuous times—from Ferguson to Baltimore to Chicago, and many other cities across the country, Black bodies and lives are under attack. What we are witnessing is the backlash and resistance to progress. However, I am not fearful, because historically, forward movement and gains have always been met with resistance in the form of bloodshed and in many instances death.
I wrote Born Bright because I believed I had something to say and contribute to the conversation about the experiences of Black girls, women and communities in America. The stories we are told about Black women and girls in dominant media and culture are not reflective of our lived experiences and of who we are. They are caricatures or distortions. In my own way, I am attempting to right the record. Born Bright is my song for Black girls.
Aishah: How has being a Black Feminist influenced your writing and your work?
Nicole: This is a good question. As a Black Feminist, I know writing is a political act. Every word, every sentence is intentional and has meaning. While a student at Howard, I devoured the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, Beverly Guy Sheftall, Joyce Ladner, bell hooks and Angela Davis—they were my first teachers. And before that, I sat at the feet of Toni Morrison (not literally), learning how to read and tell stories through the eyes of Black women. These Bad Ass Black Feminists writers and activists made me. Without them, there would be no Born Bright. Seriously.
Aishah: In your opinion, what’s the significance of being a Black woman writer and memoirist?
Nicole: In general, I think that it’s rare for a Black woman, woman of color, to be both the subject and the storyteller. We are either one or the other, but never both. Next to black men and white women, our stories are often treated as secondary or tertiary. In Born Bright, the Black girl and woman experience is primary and the lens out of which the reader is asked to view the world—How fucking amazing is that?
Aishah: It is so amazing and very, very timely, Nicole. Born Bright is a powerful part of an incredible continuum of those too few and far between Black women authors, from enslavement to present day, who place Black girl’s and women’s stories at the center of their narratives.
Nicole: I also think writing a memoir is different from writing fiction—the people and the interactions are real—you can’t pretend that the story is happening out there, in some fantasy, fictitious world. You must grapple with the grittiness, and the pain and meaning of the experiences and know that they happened to a person or a group of people that may be living.
Aishah: You’ve been doing research and organizing around Black women and girls for nearly two decades, how does Born Bright align with that work?
Nicole: Yes, and I believe we have known each other for nearly as long. I began my organizing work at Howard University. There, I founded the first feminist organization on campus–the Women’s Action Coalition. And while I had some supporters, there was a lot of open hostility and resistance to feminism and organizing around issues of violence against women, reproductive justice and poverty.
I spent a lot of time (a waste of time) debating whether talking about gender was a distraction from issues of race. In one of my classes, I remember another student calling me a “real live feminist,” like I was an alien or something.
Around that same time, I began volunteering at a local battered women’s shelter where I met a group of radical queer, unapologetic feminists. Those two experiences changed my life.
For the first time, I had language for my experiences growing up as a Black girl and for the experiences of my mom, my aunts, my cousins and the many other girls that I had known or grown up with. It was then, that I decided that this–organizing, writing about, researching, documenting, and lifting up–the experiences of Black women and girls would be my life’s work. Born Bright is an extension of this commitment.
Aishah: I remember those days, Nicole. That’s when our activist paths crossed and interlocked at the intersections of radical queer, race and gender theories and practice. You’re right. Born Bright is definitely an extension of your commitment to women and girls of color.
Recently, there have been several memoirs written by Black men around the same time period— Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kevin Powell, D. Watkins, and Mychal Denzel Smith, but I believe Born Bright is one of the first memoirs by a Black woman released by a major publishing house since Margo Jefferson’s award-winning Negroland: A Memoir in 2015. What do you make of that?
Nicole: I love the brothers, I truly do, and their stories need to be told, no doubt. However, I do not believe we have nearly enough memoirs or stories written by Black women where our experiences and analyses are central. It’s the truth. When I think about memoirs written by Black women that have received national attention or acclaim—I think about Maya Angelou’s I know why the Caged Bird Sings, bell hooks’ Bone Black, Elaine Brown’s A Taste of Power, Staceyann Chin’s The Other Side of Paradise, the recently a few others. However, they are too few and far between.
What I’m hoping is that Born Bright will open the doors for many other women to tell their stories in a public way. My story is only one of the many stories that need to be told—there are so many others. I do not claim to be representative or have the definitive Black girl story. That would be wrong and misleading.
Aishah: We live in a time where Black trauma is everywhere and on display. It is true upheaval and bloodshed. What appreciate about Born Bright is that you are able to simultaneously hold both black joy and pain without conflict. Can you talk about more about this?
Nicole: Anyone who knows me knows that I thrive in the space that is not continuous, neat or without its own contradictions. Yes, it’s true I’ve experienced tremendous amounts of pain, but I’ve also experienced copious amounts of joy and happiness in my life. And I wanted to write as though that was not only true for me, but for others as well.
In the book, I attempt to tell the story without judging the behavior or choices of the people I wrote about, including myself. I also enjoyed writing about the sharp edges, the darkness as well as the light.
Aishah: What was the hardest thing to write or talk about in the book?
Nicole: First of all, I cried nearly everyday writing the book. It was hard as shit—the memories, the flashes of anger that crept in as I wrote, and trying to understand the actions and behavior of the people in my life through their eyes. I had no idea that it would be as difficult as it was.
For sure, the most difficult person and experience to write about was my mother and our relationship. It is a relationship that has troubled me in some shape or form for most of my life. She is beautiful and complicated, with very sharp edges. Her love was delayed and never spoken. It was a utilitarian love. It was also fleeting. Writing the book, I gained a deeper understand of her life because I had to see things from her perspective and give voice to her struggles.
For years, I kept tally of the many ways I was different from her. I told myself were nothing alike. However, after writing the book, I realized that I am without a doubt my mother’s daughter.
Aishah: There’s one line in the book where you say—“It was still hell…so I decided to save myself.” Such a powerful line that will resonate with many. I know it resonated with me deeply. Can you talk about what that means and the larger significance of that line to Black women and girls?
Nicole: In many ways, I did save myself. And I think many Black women and girls have had to do the same, out of necessity and survival. For a long time, I was always waiting to be saved—by God, by the Church, by a teacher or whomever I thought was coming to rescue me, but they never came. And the knowing that comes from having to save one’s self is what I wrap myself in during difficult times or when my knuckles are bare.
Aishah: Who are some of your favorite writers?
Nicole: Right now, I am loving Claudia Rankine. Her writing is crisp, truthful and reflective of the Black experience in America. I am also feeling Ingrid Burley, the woman who wrote Love Drought on Beyoncé’s latest album Lemonade. She is brilliant and her writing is emotional, capturing life in its most vulnerable moments.
I am also a sucker for legal scholars and writers. My faves are Dorothy Roberts author of Killing the Black Body and Ian Haney Lopez, author of Dog Whistle Politics.
Aishah: What is your hope for Born Bright?
Nicole: I hope readers enjoy the story and go on the journey with this little girl who is trying to make sense of her world. I hope that readers see themselves in her.
I also want readers to be curious about the journey of the person sitting across from them on the subway, in the classroom or in their office. It will humanize us all and shift how we relate to one another.
Aishah: In closing, I want to celebrate that Born Bright is a heartrending praise song in honor of countless Black girls across the United States, who, because of their race, their gender, and their socio economics are severely marginalized and grossly disenfranchised in a myriad of ways. I will gift it to many and I will definitely teach it. I encourage everyone to either pick up or order a copy today.
C. Nicole Mason, PhD is Executive Director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest at the New York Women’s Foundation. Prior to her position at CR2PI, Mason was the most recent Executive Director of the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She held the distinction of being one of the youngest scholar-practitioners to lead a major U.S. research center or think tank. She is also an Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. She has written hundreds of articles on women, leadership development and economic security. Her writing and commentary have been featured in MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, Real Clear Politics, the Nation, Marie Claire Magazine, the Washington Post, the Progressive, ESSENCE Magazine, the Root, the Grio, the Miami Herald, Democracy Now, and numerous NPR affiliates, among others. You can follow Nicole on Twitter @cnicolemason and connect on her Public Facebook Page.
Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to
Something in America
Publishers Weekly.
263.24 (June 13, 2016): p89.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America
C. Nicole Mason. St. Martin's, $26.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-06992-4
Mason, executive director of the Center for Research and Policy in the Public Interest, a Manhattan-based women's foundation, approaches the
topic of poverty in America from an insider's perspective. In this raw and intimate memoir, Mason takes readers from her childhood in California
to her acceptance at Howard University, chronicling her struggle to break through the boundaries and limitations of growing up poor. Born in
1976 to an unmarried teenage mother, Mason loved learning, and school became her anchor in a volatile, violent, and ever-changing world. The
family often moved from place to place, her young mother's marriage to a drug dealer bringing even more danger and disruption into their lives.
As the author entered her teens and felt the dire need to escape her mother's abusive partner, she was welcomed by her grandmother in Las Vegas.
Her circuitous course reveals the ongoing challenges involved in confronting the barriers of poverty and the pervasive risks of drugs, teen
pregnancy, abuse, gangs, and racism. Along the way, Mason discusses the malfunctions of the criminal, legal, social services, and education
systems, offering the alternative solution of a new, tiered system of family support. Mason vividly illustrates the grit, determination, and
"herculean effort" necessary to reframe a young life steeped in unyielding poverty. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America." Publishers Weekly, 13 June 2016, p. 89. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA458871758&it=r&asid=7238c26766445c59b5486589c5a2f33f. Accessed 7 Mar.
2017.
3/7/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Gale Document Number: GALE|A458871758
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Mason, C. Nicole. Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey
from Nothing to Something in America
Mary Jennings
Library Journal.
141.11 (June 15, 2016): p83.
COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Mason, C. Nicole. Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America. St. Martin's. Aug. 2016.256p. photos, notes.
ISBN 9781250069924. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466879027. MEMOIR
Mason (Me First: A Deliciously Selfish Take on Life) provides a sobering account of the struggle of growing up in poverty in 1970s Southern
California. Born to a teenage mother and mostly absent father, Mason here details the ongoing trials her family endured in finding basic
necessities such as housing and food. Raised in neighborhoods with mostly African American families like her own, the author shares the sense of
isolation she felt from the more affluent parts of society. Included in Mason's candid anecdotes are the challenges she faced in completing the
college application process, and how this nearly blocked her entry into postsecondary education. From inequalities in public school funding to a
dysfunctional criminal justice system, she offers her take on cultural barriers to economic parity. Mason, now a respected voice on socioeconomics,
also delivers her views on how to improve life for marginalized Americans. Works such as Sasha Abramsky's The American Way of
Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives offer studies of economic disparity but without the compelling personal perspective. VERDICT This
firsthand account of a passage out of poverty will inspire readers interested in the strength of the human spirit in overcoming formidable
obstacles.--Mary Jennings, Camano Island Lib., WA
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Jennings, Mary. "Mason, C. Nicole. Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America." Library Journal, 15 June
2016, p. 83+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA455185430&it=r&asid=16a266cb96e3a202c9525680cc8a88d1. Accessed 7 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A455185430
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Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to
Something in America
Rebecca Vnuk
Booklist.
112.22 (Aug. 1, 2016): p16.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America. By C. Nicole Mason. Aug. 2016. 256p. St. Martin's, $26.99
(9781250069924). 818.
Born to teenage parents in Los Angeles, Mason spent the 1970s and 1980s in poor, segregated neighborhoods. Her mother eventually married a
drug dealer, which offered more stability than the family had ever experienced before; and while they lived better than most of their peers, Mason
always knew she'd need to escape--both from her stepfather's abuse and from worrying about her younger brother. Moving from school to school
was a constant, but her love of learning was not dampened by the constant flux or the upheavals in her home life--"I needed an anchor, something
to keep me from drifting away. And school was it for me." Despite mostly disinterested teachers and unmotivated classmates, Mason found a way
to succeed--by joining every club and activity that would take her, enrolling in honors classes without permission, and pestering a former
guidance counselor to help her secure a spot at Howard University. Readers will find Mason's absorbing memoir--which would make an excellent
book-club selection--to be an interesting take on the issue of entrenched poverty in the U.S.--Rebecca Vnuk
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Vnuk, Rebecca. "Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey from Nothing to Something in America." Booklist, 1 Aug. 2016, p. 16. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA460761584&it=r&asid=7b06efe027512e111bba8f30d0e4464e. Accessed 7 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A460761584
Young, Gifted, Black and Poor! Author Details Climb from Poverty to Academic Success
By Patrik Henry Bass
Aug, 16, 2016
0
In “Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey From Nothing to Something in America,” C. Nicole Mason tells a compelling story of going from poverty to peace.
This article originally appeared in the September 2016 issue of ESSENCE.
Somewhere along our early elementary path, we all get this question: What do you want to be when you grow up? This is what was posed to C. Nicole Mason, and it kicks off her striking memoir, Born Bright: A Young Girl's Journey From Nothing to Something in America (St. Martin's Press, $26.99).
Now Mason is executive director of the Center for Research & Policy in the Public Interest. However, back then she was a smart young'un growing up in Lynwood, California. Mason's response to the question of her future path? None.
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Decades later she recalls the impact of this conversation on her: "I came across a study revealing that when inner-city kids were asked to draw the world, they drew their immediate neighborhoods—the corner store, the local carryouts and their houses. Conversely, when middle-class and affluent kids were asked to do the same, they drew countries such as China and those in Europe. I believe if I had been given the task of drawing the world as a young child, I would have drawn my neighborhood too. That was my world and I could not see beyond it."
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In vivid detail Mason charts her path from that world and many other worlds she would inhabit on her way to realizing her extraordinary potential. And she does so without seeking any pity or falling into the familiar trap that she was an exception to a rule. In fact, Mason argues that there are many women and men like her who overcame the painful restrictions that are an integral part of growing up Black and poor in America.
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Her story packs several wallops: She realistically captures her mother, a 16-year-old single parent whose stunning beauty is equally matched by her vituperative personality. Mason puts us in her shoes as she matter-of-factly details her family's weekly visits to see her father in jail, where he was incarcerated for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. The author also takes us into the day-to-day reality of being impoverished: A $20 gift could yield chicken, flour, milk, bread, bologna and a can of Del Monte corn for bologna sandwiches for lunch and fried chicken and corn for dinner.
I'm glad that Mason wrote this urgent memoir, showing not only what poverty looks like but what it feels like as well. No matter your financial status, you will be far better off after having read Born Bright, not just because it's a powerful story, but also because it's one so seldom heard.