This Side of Home Author Renée Watson on How Her Book Became a Call to Action
Renée Watson is the author of This Side of Home, in which identical twins Nikki and Maya struggle to reconcile their opposite responses to the gentrification of their Portland neighborhood. Watson is also the executive director of I, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit organization committed to nurturing voices from underrepresented communities in the creative arts. Here’s Watson to talk about how the heroine of This Side of Home‘s journey inspired her to fight for change in her community, starting with her goal of transforming Langston Hughes’ Harlem brownstone into a multi-use cultural space.
What would Maya Younger do?
This is the question I asked myself as I stood in front of the empty home of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. Like my character, Maya, from This Side of Home, I too am struggling with the changes in my neighborhood.
This Side of Home
Hardcover $18.99
This Side of Home
By Renée Watson
Hardcover $18.99
In This Side of Home everything for Maya is changing. The neighborhood she has always called home is morphing into a place where she feels like a stranger. Abandoned storefronts are being renovated, houses are getting facelifts, and new faces—white faces—are showing up more and more in her community. Maya isn’t so sure these changes are for the best, but her twin, Nikki, is all for the urban renewal. Throughout the story, Maya finds her voice and uses it not just to complain about what’s happening, but to be a part of what’s happening—to reach out to neighbors and business owners and find a way to hold onto the legacy left behind by the black leaders of her Portland, Oregon, community. Maya learns it is possible to build on her ancestors’ legacy and preserve local history, all while embracing change.
I am learning these lessons as I watch my Harlem neighborhood fill up with trendy coffee shops and restaurants. As abandoned brownstones get renovated into luxury condos, I have mixed emotions. I worry that with the development of “the new,” the old is being erased. Places hold stories, and when we lose sacred places like churches, theaters, and the homes of black icons who contributed to society in powerful, lasting ways, we lose pieces of our collective story.
A turning point for Maya is when she learns the meaning of Sankofa, a word in the Akan language that means “go back and get it,” which is to say, “return to your roots in order to learn lessons so that you can move forward.” It is about redeeming, reclaiming, and restoring that which was lost. This is the vision behind I, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit I created. We hope to build on Langston’s legacy by nurturing underrepresented voices in the creative arts. We plan to renovate his brownstone and use the space to host poetry workshops, community forums, and events like readings, open mics, and gallery exhibits.
Asking, “What would Maya Younger do?” started out as a lighthearted joke between my friends and I whenever we’d lament about our frustrations with gentrification. But over time, Maya challenged me.
I cannot write stories about strong girls who use their voices to stand up for what they believe in, who organize and fight for change in both small and big ways, and not expect that of myself.
People often ask authors of fiction what parts of their books are real. While there are many real-life experiences I drew on to write This Side of Home, what has surprised me the most is how much the fictional characters have inspired me. How this story has become not just a tale of twin girls finding their way and rediscovering home, but a call to action for me personally, to go back and get it, to never let go.
I, Too, Arts Collective’s first major project is to provide a space for emerging and established artists in Harlem to create, connect, and showcase work. Their goal is to lease and renovate the brownstone where Langston Hughes lived in Harlem as a way to not only preserve his legacy but to build on it and impact young poets and artists. For more information and to donate, please visit them here.
In This Side of Home everything for Maya is changing. The neighborhood she has always called home is morphing into a place where she feels like a stranger. Abandoned storefronts are being renovated, houses are getting facelifts, and new faces—white faces—are showing up more and more in her community. Maya isn’t so sure these changes are for the best, but her twin, Nikki, is all for the urban renewal. Throughout the story, Maya finds her voice and uses it not just to complain about what’s happening, but to be a part of what’s happening—to reach out to neighbors and business owners and find a way to hold onto the legacy left behind by the black leaders of her Portland, Oregon, community. Maya learns it is possible to build on her ancestors’ legacy and preserve local history, all while embracing change.
I am learning these lessons as I watch my Harlem neighborhood fill up with trendy coffee shops and restaurants. As abandoned brownstones get renovated into luxury condos, I have mixed emotions. I worry that with the development of “the new,” the old is being erased. Places hold stories, and when we lose sacred places like churches, theaters, and the homes of black icons who contributed to society in powerful, lasting ways, we lose pieces of our collective story.
A turning point for Maya is when she learns the meaning of Sankofa, a word in the Akan language that means “go back and get it,” which is to say, “return to your roots in order to learn lessons so that you can move forward.” It is about redeeming, reclaiming, and restoring that which was lost. This is the vision behind I, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit I created. We hope to build on Langston’s legacy by nurturing underrepresented voices in the creative arts. We plan to renovate his brownstone and use the space to host poetry workshops, community forums, and events like readings, open mics, and gallery exhibits.
Asking, “What would Maya Younger do?” started out as a lighthearted joke between my friends and I whenever we’d lament about our frustrations with gentrification. But over time, Maya challenged me.
I cannot write stories about strong girls who use their voices to stand up for what they believe in, who organize and fight for change in both small and big ways, and not expect that of myself.
People often ask authors of fiction what parts of their books are real. While there are many real-life experiences I drew on to write This Side of Home, what has surprised me the most is how much the fictional characters have inspired me. How this story has become not just a tale of twin girls finding their way and rediscovering home, but a call to action for me personally, to go back and get it, to never let go.
I, Too, Arts Collective’s first major project is to provide a space for emerging and established artists in Harlem to create, connect, and showcase work. Their goal is to lease and renovate the brownstone where Langston Hughes lived in Harlem as a way to not only preserve his legacy but to build on it and impact young poets and artists. For more information and to donate, please visit them here.