Linear time and progress is one of the most harmful lies of white supremacy. Some things permanently alter you. Sometimes the world does stop. For me in 2016 when my life crashed and veered from a singular event, I expected that my relationship with it would be one that the farther I got from it,… Continue reading Healing in the Middle
Last night I tossed and turned, the air filled with a nightmare mix of air fresheners and bullets. This afternoon when I hit 'end' on my last call for the day, my body instantly doubled over, racked with uncontrollable tears, as I curled into a ball, holding myself and shaking. Daunte. Another name I should… Continue reading “We Go Out for Sweets & Come Back”
For the past few weeks the sun has decided to shine down on my slice of the Bay, bringing warmth and comfort as spring finally takes a steady hold of the land. I lift my head up to the sun each morning, close my eyes, and bask in delight as the rays dance across the… Continue reading A Winter of Loneliness, Exhaustion, Solitude, Rest, and Gratitude
In September of last year the increasingly devastating wild fire season in northern California brought apocalyptic orange and red skies to the Bay Area. I woke up one morning and looked out on a dark red glow to the sky, disoriented about the time of day. I thought the redness would shake, but as the… Continue reading What to Black People Is Safety?
It has been roughly a month and a half since my birthday. I usually write a reflection a day or two, or a few weeks after my birth. This has been the longest time. But in a pandemic year where we've been asked to shelter in place, time has taken on new meaning. Mainly, that… Continue reading Reading Esther in the Age of Trump and Another Cycle Around the Sun
I have loved the way that the Black women characters have been brought to the forefront of the storytelling in Misha Green's thrilling and provocative show Lovecraft Country. The uninterrupted wrath of Ruby. The expansive world and identities of Hippolyta. The resolve of Leti. Yet Diana's (Dee) plot line in the latest episode, "Jig-a-Bobo", reminded… Continue reading Lovecraft Country and Forgotten Black Girls
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
