Here are a few people and books that inspire me. Charif Shanahan, by his friendship and example. Vievee Francis, by her courage and relentless honesty in her extraordinary collection The Shared World.  I have learned so much from Paisley Rekdal’s book Appropriate: A Provocation, with its generous exploration of writing about racial themes. And Ashley Bryan (1923-2022), for being, what in Yiddish we call, “a mensch,” whose unquenchable joy in using art to build community helps us all to soar.