I had only taken the first two steps into my bedroom in a lush Airbnb when I saw the message from my friend Jacqueline: OMG RBG. I knew what this message meant, and I quickly googled her name to reveal the long list of articles already written about her death at age 87 from complications… Continue reading In Search of Beginnings
Throughout primary and secondary school, I did not know a time that my mother was not an active advocate for my education. This was not simple helicopter mom status, but rather the necessity to check teachers on their biases and insist that they gave me the same work as anyone else, despite the fact that… Continue reading Schools and Universities Must Hold Their Systems and Employees Accountable for Racial Harm
I never thought that sitting outside, the rays of the sun kissing my face and dancing off of my dark skin would feel so rare and necessary. Today is my 53rd day in some type of self-quarantine or shelter-in-place since returning from Thailand at the end of February. I didn't know when I was on… Continue reading Held
"To provide for those who grieve...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes." Isaiah 61:3 Last night during my small group for church, our pastor had us reflect on the biblical passage: "The people who survived the sword, found favor in the wilderness while Israel was seeking rest" (Jeremiah 31:2). That passage evokes… Continue reading Beauty for Ashes
The week began with reports that those whose skin kiss the sun most often already knew: black folk were contracting and dying from COVID-19 at alarming rates. Yet instead of naming the man-made terrains of whiteness - food deserts, poverty, red-lining, environmental and economic racism, to name a few - they label race, not racism,… Continue reading Waiting for the Resurrection
The coronavirus had been on my mind since early January because I was scheduled to go to Thailand for vacation and work in February, and I was unsure if I should or would be able to go. I carefully watched each day as cases and deaths in China continued to rise, and held my breath… Continue reading Separation, Distance
In my travels and the many places I have called home over the years -- from Ghana to Cambridge, England -- the lessons I learned from watching my mother make spaces has stayed with me in very real ways. Placemaking by naming and claiming space is an act of resistance. It calls forth my right… Continue reading Making Space, Building Place
I'm the "strong friend." The ones those online posters tell you to check on, but who you may never know what's truly going on. Not that I'm proud of that. It's because I have designated people who have been tried and trained to help me carry my loads. I like to appear lighter for others.… Continue reading Years that Bind
In my bedroom, I have a framed poster that reads "Trust Your Struggle." To me, those words are about knowing in my bones and my being the things that I know to be true. They are about caring about the process and not just the product, and all the ways that becoming is a necessary state… Continue reading Dear 30, Love 29
When I was younger, my mom would always tell me to write when I felt confused or hurt or angry. She would say that once I could start putting everything inside of me into some language that made sense to me, that in the creation, I would start to understand myself more. I often think… Continue reading Creating Myself to Freedom
