Category Archives: The Reconstructionists

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Today’s Reconstructionist is one of my favorite poets and writers, Adrienne Rich. I had the privilege of seeing her speak & read her work when I was just 23 years old. Her writing has been very influential in my life. Adrienne Rich passed away just a little over a year ago. I paid tribute to her here.

You can see an archive of all the Recontructionists from this year here.

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Today might be my favorite Reconstructionist so far, and not because I think it’s the best illustration in the series. I have loved Ray Eames — who she was, what she designed & made, her diverse skills and interests, her sense of style — for many, many years. So drawing this portrait was perhaps the most exciting for me yet. If you haven’t watched the PBS documentary about Charles and Ray Eames, I highly recommend it.

Happy Monday.

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This week’s Reconstructionist is Susan Sontag, essayist, film maker, novelist, playwright, director. I first fell in love with Susan Sontag when I ready The Volcano Lover in 1992. I wrote about the influence of that book in the introduction to my own book, A Collection a Day back in 2010.

You can see an archive of all of this year’s Reconstructionists and read more about this project (a collaboration with Maria Popova) here.

Have a great Monday!

Today’s Reconstructionist is novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë.

On another note, I’m back to blogging this week. See you tomorrow.

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Today’s Reconstructionist: the incredible Billie Holiday. See all of the former Reconstructionists this year here.

Happy Monday!

Woman of the week: Gloria Steinem, whose birthday is today! See all the Reconstructionists here.

Happy Monday!

{Today’s Reconstructionist: Maya Angelou}

As some of you know, my first career was as an elementary school teacher. I taught a first and second grade combination class for several years in a row, and every day there was a period of time dedicated to sitting in a circle, singing and ready poetry. My kids loved it, and so did I. It was sometimes the only period in the day when there were never any altercations among students or frustrations with learning. One day, one of my students (named Ivory) came in and announced that he would like to recite a poem for the class that his grandmother had helped him memorize. Ivory was extraordinary in many ways, and so I was not surprised. Turns out he had memorized Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” — every word of it (except the stanza about sexiness, which I think his grandmother omitted on purpose!). The class and I sat dumbfounded and moved as Ivory recited this beautiful poem with perfect cadence and inflection.

Still I Rise 
by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

I have been profoundly moved by Angelou’s poetry over the years, and this was just one of those occasions. Maria and I are so excited to present her as this week’s Reconstructionist.

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Today’s Reconstructionist: the magnificent Madame Curie, Polish physicist & chemist, who worked mainly in France,  famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. Read more here.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the launch of a brand new personal project which will be featured here on this blog. I am very excited to share it with you!

Today’s Reconstructionist: writer Joan Didion. Learn more here.

This week’s Reconstructionist? Berenice Abbott. Read more about her here.

Happy Monday.

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Today’s Reconstructionist is none other than the mother of the modern women’s right movement, Betty Friedan.

New to my blog? The Reconstructionists is a collaboration with Maria Popova. You can check out all the previous women in our project here!

Hello friends: I’m so happy to tell you that today’s Reconstructionist is none other than Frida Kahlo! She was a real treat for me to draw & paint.

I’ve loved Frida for many years, beginning in the early 1990′s when I was first introduced to her work. You may recall that recently I wrote about the opening of her closet in Mexico City. And last year I had the honor of illustrating the cover for The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo for Simon & Schuster. And she is the author of one of my favorite quotes of all time.

You can read more interesting facts about Frida over here on the Reconstructionists website AND catch up on all the previous Reconstructionists here.

Happy Monday.