Reparations by: Destiny Kiara

By: Destiny Kiara

My name is Destiny Kiara Morris and I am the author of the new series “Reparations.” I am a native of West Virginia, and as a black author here, it often feels like speaking in a room where people are afraid of your voice before you even open your mouth. When people hear the word “reparations,” they already assume that I am speaking about money. However, my book Reparations is not about a check. It’s about what it would mean for the ones who mistreat Black people to actually have to sit in our reality and live for five years as African Americans; to feel the fear of what it means not to have no white privilege at all—only getting through life by fighting to be successful because of hard work, dedication, and trying to squeeze past those who judge our beautiful melanin, which is by no choice of our own doing. 

In my series, if one does not show empathy or change an ignorant mindset, they must live the rest of their days in their new skin, judged by others. I am doing this in a Republican, mostly white state, where even saying the word “reparations” gets the side-eye and possibly evokes the feeling of danger. Although this occurs, I will not water the conversation down when it comes to my new series. 

Writing this book is my way of saying we deserve to be recognized and respected for more than what is only allowed of us.  Our history and our present should be placed on a pedestal higher. We are more than entertainment, and this allows others to think about being in the position of being discredited and ignored for the important impact that we as Black people have made throughout history. Especially at such a time when others are trying to erase not only our history but the importance of who we are as Americans. 

This is to make people think of how they would feel or react if people tried to erase their progress and who they are as a people. We deserve to build careers in our imagination, turning them into a reality, in sci-fi, and create stories that center us. I want the people of West Virginia to read my books and understand that it is okay to be fearless, to step outside the box people have tried to place us in, and to continue to create things that will not only make this state but others look us in the eyes, respectfully. 

The topic of reparations will take on a different meaning when the shoe is on the other foot of unempathetic, close-minded, and unjust individuals. As a Black author who works with children every day in our community, this work is also personal to me. Showing the youth that being a writer can go further than just thinking about it but actually doing it. Also, with this, I am a part of raising and teaching the next generation while writing stories that emphasize the truth about the world that they are inheriting. All the while wanting them to see and understand that their voices, their talent, their imaginations, and who they are as a whole, in the state of West Virginia, matter too.