C Deandre Smith

Author C. DeAndre’ Smith’s literary style and message reflect the influence of various social (and historical) events he experienced throughout his life-a fact well represented in The Customers Always Write. The product of Southern parents, Smith was born and raised a good portion of his early years in the progressive yet still highly segregated city of Chicago, where he was no stranger to one of this country’s greatest societal ills: racism. Smith’s family moved to California during his mid-teens and upon graduating from high school, he attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. It was during this time Smith would witness the first episode in a chain of racially explosive and divisive events to strike the city, beginning with the Rodney King beating, trial verdict and resulting 1992 L.A. Riots… and ending with the O.J. Simpson murder case and trial. The racial, social and political upheaval surrounding these events affected all those who witnessed-including Smith whose writings, as a result, serve to point out the (sometimes dangerous) consequences that can result from labeling, stereotyping and judging others.