The Power of Exposure

    In Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming, the author tells the story of her life and her family in breathtaking prose. She consistently throughout her book alludes to her gifts and desires that culminate in her becoming a writer. Her poem, Stevie and Me, reveals the power of exposure to the development of one’s desires and dreams, and also shows that seemingly little things can be incredibly influential on one’s future. 


    Stevie and Me tells the story of Jacqueline going to the library with her family. She still reads picture books, which she admits she shouldn’t, but it is a picture book that she discovers that changes her outlook on her future. Woodson writes, “If someone had been fussing with me / to read like my sister, I might have missed / the picture book filled with brown people, more / brown people than I’d ever seen / in a book before” (227-228). This is the first time in her life that Woodson encounters a book that represents people who look like her. This profound moment exposes the reader to the reality that what you are exposed to as a child has the power to shape and curate your worldview. Up until this point, Woodson was under the impression that people like her were not people that were written about in books, and this mindsight could have had dangerous consequences for the aspiring writer. She says at the end of the poem, “If someone had taken / that book out of my hand… maybe / I’d never have believed / that someone who looked like me / could be in the pages of the book / that someone who looked me / had a story” (228). It is through Woodson’s exposure to this book that she comes to understand the underrepresentation of people of color within the world. She realizes that despite what the world is preaching at her through books, media, and other outlets, black and brown people do have stories and their stories are worth telling. Woodson understands that her story is worth telling. This seemingly little incident in the broader story of Jacqueline Woodson’s life completely shifts her outlook on what a story should be. It expands upon the world, especially her world as a writer, helping her to see that there are untold stories that are still worth telling. This little moment, changes who Woodson will be, as a person and a writer, and influences her outlook on her own future. 

    Stevie and Me, though small and incidental in the grand scheme of Woodson’s life, demonstrates the power of the little moments. It allows the reader to take a step back and evaluate their own worldview to determine if they’ve come to believe a narrative that may or may not be true. It also shows the power that can be derived in exposing oneself to something different, something one wouldn’t normally read or take in, and something that could ultimately be life changing. This small moment where she is exposed to a picture book featuring people who look just like her changes Woodson’s perspective on her life, especially her dreams and desires that culminate in her success as a writer and a storyteller.  

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