Sometimes I think about staying in Europe. But Europe does not understand my pain. I stayed up really late to work, but more importantly to listen to the grand jury decision on whether or not to indict Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown. I was writing the beginning of my conclusion when the… Continue reading When I Wake Up, It Won’t Matter if It’s 1860, 1960, or 2014
Author: odeliay
25 Thoughts and Musings from the 25th Year
1. I always have a song that I use to focus on my year and the things I want to do. This past year it was "Live Like That" by the Sidewalk Prophets. Whenever things got a bit crazy--as they often do--I focused on the words of the chorus, which helped me through the year… Continue reading 25 Thoughts and Musings from the 25th Year
Tally Mark One, Tally Mark Two…: A Chronicle of Letting Go
Tally mark one You, my beloved green notebook, were an impulse buy. Why would I ever spend $24 just to say that I had a "cute" notebook? But I had run inside the store, snatched you up, and opened the fresh pages on that BART ride. A stranger asked if I was writing my life… Continue reading Tally Mark One, Tally Mark Two…: A Chronicle of Letting Go
When the Teacher Becomes the Student Again
Idealism and perspective. Two words and ideas that have come to form the foundations of my research and practice. Yesterday, at the end of the first meeting of my 15-person route on politics, development, and democratic education (PDDE), the head of the route, who is also now my personal supervisor, told us that we would… Continue reading When the Teacher Becomes the Student Again
Perspective…
Perspective is finding yourself lost in a new country It's being reconnected to the world for the first time in three days To find your first communication makes you feel even more alone than you did before It's feeling like you wish you could turn back the clock and send you more letters, more emails,… Continue reading Perspective…
The Science of Movement
"To truly understand yourself, your purpose and those around you, you must keep moving. You must move at least five times; five times to open your heart and dip your toes into something new, fresh and life changing." I have almost begun the single digit countdown to my next big move: Cambridge, England for (at… Continue reading The Science of Movement
Ten Books that have ‘Stuck with Me’ Through the Years
The other day I participated in one of those book challenges on Facebook, where I had to list ten books that have stuck with me/impacted me the most. I thought it would be hard, but once I sat down to make the list, the books just came to me, and I reflected on just how… Continue reading Ten Books that have ‘Stuck with Me’ Through the Years
Dr. Strangehate or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Embrace the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Trope
"I know a few things to be true...I am unwelcome and my beauty is not beauty here. My body is burning with the shame of not belonging, my body is longing. I am the sin of memory and the absence of memory. I watch the news and my mouth becomes a sink full of blood."… Continue reading Dr. Strangehate or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Embrace the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Trope
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown and Educating for the Power of the Counter-Narrative
Piece I wrote in my new joint blog space venture
Exactly Where You’re Meant to Be
"Moving on is easy. It's staying moved on that's trickier." - K. Klemer Something strange is going on. It's mid-August, and I am not in a flurry of butcher paper and books and PD's. There's someone new in that apartment on Wayne Avenue. I am not having a drink at Lou's or Rock Bottom, nor am… Continue reading Exactly Where You’re Meant to Be
Odelia Younge 