Jenna Wortham on the Exhilarating Work That Leaves Her ‘Naked and Shivering’

I also travel whenever I can. Last year, I went to the South of France and meditated and swam in the Mediterranean Sea. That rejuvenated me to deal with the stressors of daily life. In a few weeks I’m going to Greece to do something similar.

If you had to choose another job, in journalism or not, what would it be?

Is there a job where you get to be on the beach all day? I’d choose that. I am a water sign and love being near the ocean. Maybe I’d be a filmmaker and work on “Planet Earth: Blue Planet III.”

What books have most influenced your work?

Books about fearless women who persevered in their fields because they knew their higher purpose was to be in service of equality and civil rights: “Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press,” for instance, and “At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance — A New History of the Civil Rights Movement From Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power.” They help remind me to keep going when I get overwhelmed and feel like giving up.

“The Black Book,” an anthology edited by Toni Morrison, and the publications of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, started by Barbara Smith, have influenced my work on a visual anthology called “Black Futures” that I’m doing with Kimberly Drew. It will come out in 2020.

And Renee Gladman’s books about the imaginary place Ravicka are profoundly reshaping how I think about language.

What’s something that readers would be surprised to learn about you?

I spend more time offline than online. I don’t have a value judgment about screen time; it’s just that I’ve finally reached a point in my life and career where I spend a lot of time generating inspiration and ideas, not scrolling for them, and that is such a luxury.

Also, I love “Survivor.” It’s so good!

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/reader-center/jenna-wortham-new-york-times-magazine-still-processing.html?partner=rss&emc=rss