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 Tanzania Nevels
- Age: 40
- How long were you in the RIF program? I was in the RIF program throughout my elementary school years. Growing up in the delta region of Mississippi and being a poor little black girl, didn't seem like the most ideal situation to foster a love of reading or learning, but God had a special plan for me.
- As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? As a child, reading took me way beyond the boundaries of Mississippi. This introduced me to all the possibilities of what I could be when I grew up. So it seemed like every other week I wanted to be something different: nurse, teacher, archaeologist, spy, airplane pilot, and ballerina, just to name a few. But without reading, I wouldn't have known that all those prospects were out there.
- Now that you are grown up, what do you do? As a writer, poet, and activist for social change, I feel it's vitally important for my intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth to read as much as I can.
- Favorite childhood book: It's hard to narrow down my favorite childhood book, because I read so voraciously and fell in love with many books: Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte’s Web, Little Women, Peter Pan, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys mysteries, Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series, and the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks. There are so many, many books that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them.
- What children’s book character are you most like? If I had to pick a children's book character that I am most alike, I think it would be Peter Pan, because my imagination is so uninhibited, that I truly believe I can fly. I can soar among the stars and skip over to the moon for a picnic, then lay a big kiss on the sun as it sets for the night. Like Peter Pan, I believe in the magic. I see it everyday that I am able to wake up and smell the flowers, hear the raindrops outside my window, feel the wind on my face, see the smiles on my children’s faces and KNOW that I am alive.
- Favorite RIF memory: My favorite RIF memory is of the RIF mobile pulling up to my school. Every child got a turn, to go inside the mobile bookstore and pick out two books to take home. I remember always feeling that “butterfly” excitement when it was my turn to go inside. The smell and colors of those books was like an aphrodisiac. I would walk around the mobile touching and reading the titles, trying to decide which one’s I wanted to take home. I really, really, wished I could have taken them all home. After the RIF mobile left, I would walk around the rest of the day in a state of bliss. I could hardly wait to get home and crawl up in my bed, to read my books.
- Do you still have any of your RIF books? Unfortunately, I don't have any of my original RIF books, but whenever I have the urge to read any of my childhood favorites, the local library is not very far away.
- What do you read now? Now days, I read a lot of self-development books by authors like: Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Phil McGraw. Also, I read many books of poetry, and books that explore my rich and colorful heritage. I truly believe that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Reading has and continues to open me up to the POWER OF POSSIBILITIES. Thank you for letting me share my RIF story with you.
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