Early Othering, Racism and Satori in 1970s America

I had alopecia areata when I was 12. At the time, our family was living in Del City, Oklahoma. It was the late 1970s. My father was stationed at Tinker Air Force Base but we lived off-base, in the Del Rancho neighborhood. The affliction was pretty obscure back then, but now of course it has reached a state of global recognition with the slap heard round the world at this year’s Oscars.

I can remember feeling the smooth, bald spots on the left side of my head and in the back, the area black folks call the kitchen. I don’t remember being…