I have been inspired by Perry's choice to step out of his box and take on such an important piece of Black female literature. If he can do that, then perhaps I need to leave my own comfort zone and enter his world.

I went to a comedy show recently. I'd rather not say who the headliner was, but I was pretty disappointed. The brother made a lot of racial jokes to a largely white (and predictably so) audience and I didn't find them to be that funny. I've seen comedians of all races do hilarious routines about ethnicity and culture...this wasn't that...The comedian seemed to have forgotten one of the most important commandments that any person with a Black mother or grandmother has surely heard: "Don't embarrass me in front of these White folks."