ON THE RECORD: Exhaling Respect

Students felt Terry McMillan's presence on the University campus months before McMillan's January 31 visit. The black author's words have gone beyond black communities, to embrace women of all ages and races. The popularity of Waiting To Exhale contributed to the hundreds of fans from the Philadelphia area who gathered at the University Museum to hear McMillan exhale some words of her own. She commanded the audience by giving a dynamic reading of her new novel, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, due to be published in May. Frequent admiring shouts from the audience and a long line of autograph seekers revealed that McMillan's confident attitude seemed to meet the fans' expectations. Although McMillian stated explicitly that the words she recites are not one hundred percent accurate reflections of human nature, she suggested that a large part of her motivation to write lies in her curiosity about people. While McMillan has been criticized for her brazen attitude, she clearly did not intend to intimidate anyone, explaining to frustrated fans trying to talk with her that she enjoys being the voice for many women as a person who deserves respect, not as a victim. After signing hundreds of autographs for her aggressive fans, McMillan took a few minutes to speak with The Daily Pennsylvanian's Karen Pasternack. The Daily Pennsylvanian: What advice would you give to young artists and writers about their part in the future of racial harmony in America? McMillian: Well, first of all, my attitude is that you have to live your life so that you respect everybody regardless of the color of their skin. And if you can use that as a permeater to filter through your work than fine. However, it depends on what you write about. Race may not necessarily be the focus. The bottom line is that your should tell the truth and write from your heart and your gut, but necessarily from your brain because sometimes the two conflict. DP: As a professional woman in today's society, what are your driving forces and what are your greatest conflicts? McMillan: What drives me is the need to understand why things happen the way they do, why we treat people the way we do and why we hurt each other. I'm more interested in how our world can become a better place by our role in it and the way we do what we do. My biggest conflict is learning how to not take it all so seriously. That's really it. And, of course, how to be my own best role model. DP: Did you anticipate when your wrote Waiting to Exhale so much controversy over it? McMillan: Any time you criticize men there is always going to be controversy. I mean, men take this too personally. They really do. And it's not meant to be so personal. My writing does not reflect all African Americans. Anyone who presumes that I'm trying to say that all black men are a certain way, is stupid. DP: What messages were you trying to convey when you wrote Waiting to Exhale? McMillan: That we should be smarter as women and make better choices. And that men should treat us with more respect. And if they treat us with more respect, tenderness and honesty then that's what they will get back. DP: What do you think that your work appeals to so many people? McMillan: I write the truth, and I think people identify with the truth. I think that there is something redeeming about the stories I have to tell that people can take away. DP: How do you relax and get away from the stress of everyday life so that you are in good shape to write? McMillan: I get in my Jeep and go up to my house at Lake Tahoe, in the mountains, with my son. However, I can rarely go away like that because my son goes to school, and I have to be around to drive the carpool and take care of him. The combination of work and motherhood is very demanding, and I always want to be there for my son.