Stay Down. That is the advice author and teacher Mitchell Jackson has for college students. Stay down because “you never know where you’re going to end up.” To stay down means to keep open to the possibilities. Jackson’s life is an example of someone who has seen the possibilities and chosen to stay open to them.
Jackson grew up in Portland as the oldest child of a drug addicted mother. In 1997 Jackson was arrested on drug charges and spent more than a year in prison. After his release, Jackson went on to earn an MA in writing and an MFA in creative writing. In addition to being an award-winning author he is on the faculty of New York University and Columbia University.
When reflecting on his journey from drug dealer to teacher and author much of it revolves around a basketball court. In the parks of Portland, he learned …show more content…
He seamlessly integrates urban street slang with subjects as lofty as Sigmund Freud helping to create characters that are both intriguing and realistic. Jackson’s writing has been described by the New York Times as having “warmth and a hard-won wisdom about the intersection of race and poverty in America”. When I asked him how he describes his book his response was “pick it up for the language and there’s a story in it”. He chooses what he reads using the same benchmark. “The first thing I’m looking for is, are you singing? If you’re singing then I’ll give you the space to show me something, tell me something, teach me something. But, I really want to appreciate the language.” The same care is given when students in Columbia’s MFA program ask Mitchell S. Jackson what they should be reading. Jackson uses what he knows about the student to determine “what’s going to be helpful to them, what are they trying to do. What are they writing”. This is the academic and literary world of Mitchell S.
Jackson grew up in Portland as the oldest child of a drug addicted mother. In 1997 Jackson was arrested on drug charges and spent more than a year in prison. After his release, Jackson went on to earn an MA in writing and an MFA in creative writing. In addition to being an award-winning author he is on the faculty of New York University and Columbia University.
When reflecting on his journey from drug dealer to teacher and author much of it revolves around a basketball court. In the parks of Portland, he learned …show more content…
He seamlessly integrates urban street slang with subjects as lofty as Sigmund Freud helping to create characters that are both intriguing and realistic. Jackson’s writing has been described by the New York Times as having “warmth and a hard-won wisdom about the intersection of race and poverty in America”. When I asked him how he describes his book his response was “pick it up for the language and there’s a story in it”. He chooses what he reads using the same benchmark. “The first thing I’m looking for is, are you singing? If you’re singing then I’ll give you the space to show me something, tell me something, teach me something. But, I really want to appreciate the language.” The same care is given when students in Columbia’s MFA program ask Mitchell S. Jackson what they should be reading. Jackson uses what he knows about the student to determine “what’s going to be helpful to them, what are they trying to do. What are they writing”. This is the academic and literary world of Mitchell S.