Precious Williams: My Inspiration
There are so many black authors that I would love to write about and whom I admire and look up to, such as Lemn Sissay, Bernardine Evaristo, Maya Angelou, Yomi Adegoke, Elizabeth Uviebinené, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to name but a few. All of these writers inspire me and I look to them for knowledge, wisdom and how to transcend life’s more challenging moments.
So it was difficult to pick one to acknowledge when I was asked to write a piece about a black author who inspires and influences me. I thought - how do you choose from all the talent out there?
That is a hard choice as for me, all Black authors are brilliant and I feel grateful that there are lots more black authors now than there were when I was growing up.
There is still a long way to go, however it is like Muhammad Ali stated;
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life”.
Then it hit me! The book that I had been my safety blanket whilst I have been navigating how I could write my own memoir, the book that is similar to my own experiences and one that gives me the strength to keep going on the days when I think of giving up.
The book called “Precious” by a lady called Precious Williams who I feel deserves to be acknowledged.
Her book is a memoir and recounts her life growing up as a privately fostered child, in West Sussex. It follows her young life all the way up to her going to university and how she dealt with being abandoned by her birth mother and being raised by another family.
Precious discussed identity, belonging, race, family and significantly the idea of love.
An extract from her book states;
“Precious will be the writer, the grown up woman, the adventurer.”
“My foster family will interact with Anita and only with Anita. They don’t understand that I killed off Anita years ago.”
Precious Williams has done so well in spite of everything she has experienced in her youth. Precious went to Oxford University and is a former contributing editor to Cosmopolitan. She has also written personal essays and done celebrity interviews that have appeared in the Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, Wallpaper, Elle, Marie Claire and the New York Post.
When I first came across the book “Precious” I was looking for examples of Black authors who had also written books about their time in foster care. It was in essence, research for my own book.
In the publishing industry they recommend that you find at least 4-5 books that are like your book.
I fell in love with this book, not only because the way it was written and the fact that it was a true story and I could see a lot of my experiences reflected in the book. I also saw that it was descriptively funny at times and more often than not so sad I had to take some time out before I went back to finish the chapter.
What is evident from reading the book is that there is an overwhelming defiance by the author to stay true to herself no matter what has happened and you see this more and more throughout the book. When people around her are giving her all sorts of opinions and judgements she remains stays true to herself.
It is inspiring to read that she has cultivated the spirit of perseverance and is this is why she has achieved so much in her life; it has guided her through the adversity and through the difficult times to become a journalist and a public figure.
It would have been easy for Precious to sit on the sidelines and become discouraged, particularly when she goes through the process of searching for a mother’s love, your own identity and a family to call your own. Yet this was not the way it was to be for Precious she kept going, surviving, which eventually turned into thriving.
In a moving passage from the book Precious states;
“I will find that you can run before you can walk. I will spend years kicking down doors that people will swear were shut to me. I will fight, fight, fight”
Precious is the book I wish I had had when I was younger. I would have realised sooner that if she can succeed that I can too, as her experiences - although different - do echo those of my own. It is, I believe, always important to have Black role models, people who have paved the way before us and defied circumstances to make something of themselves to ultimately win at the game of life.
Written by Rebecca Olayinka
Rebecca is from London and has lived in Bristol for 14 years. Rebecca attended UWE and now works as Senior Practitioner (Social Worker) in Bristol. Rebecca loves poetry and is currently working on her first manuscript.