the first time I met a black person, he was in an elevator in Chicago, and I was two years old. the light blue of my eyes met the dark brown of his and I started crying, terrified. my parents were mortified. 

Brunswick, Maine has a little over 20,000 residents— 93% of whom are white. the median age is 41. it was a pleasant, safe upbringing. the only color in town was found in my mother’s gardens or on the faces of military families who lived in the housing provided by the Naval Air Station, but came from everywhere else.