Tuscaloosa author writes children’s book about biracial daughterPosted in Articles, Family/Parenting, Media Archive, United States on 2019-01-12 02:16Z by Steven |
Tuscaloosa author writes children’s book about biracial daughter
The Tuscaloosa News
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
2019-01-09
Kelcey Sexton, Staff Writer
 Monique Fields, a children’s author from Tuscaloosa, stands with her first published book Saturday, July 21, 2018. [Staff file photo/Gary Cosby Jr.] |
Monique Fields remembers when she got inspiration for “Honeysmoke.”
It was when her eldest daughter began asking questions about herself, namely about the color of her skin. They were questions that took her by surprise because Simone was only 3 years old.
“She started asking questions about who she is, and I didn’t really have any good answers for her,” Fields said.
It seemed early for her to be paying such close attention to things like that.
“Basically, she pointed to my face one day, and she said, ‘Mommy’s a black girl.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, Mommy’s a black girl,’ ” she said. ”(Then Simone) said, ‘Simone is a white girl.’ ”
Fields, 48, admitted she really didn’t know the best way to respond to that and told Simone, no, she was a black girl like Mommy.
“Which is not true and was not the thing to do,” she said. “Then (Simone’s dad) Ken said, ‘You have a little bit of both worlds. You’re a little bit of Mommy and a little bit of Daddy.’…
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