A white man called me 'nigger' in the BART station yesterday. He was standing alone on the platform. He watched me as I came down the escalators, hatred shining in his eyes as I drew closer. He glared at me and then he hurled the word out of his twisted mouth, as if he were spitting… Continue reading A White Man Called Me “Nigger” in the BART Station Yesterday
Author: odeliay
In Search of a Pair of Wings
I find solace in some of the most ordinary moments of life. One of those moments is when I deep condition my hair after it has been straight for some time and I can touch the curls once more bouncing from my head. It feels like coming back to roots, back to a familiar once… Continue reading In Search of a Pair of Wings
Reminders
One of the greatest gifts I have allowed myself to receive in my life are the reminders that I find of things that I need to recall or remember. Sometimes a word, a conversation, a photograph. I just have to be ready to listen. Last night I went to a celebration in Oakland in honor… Continue reading Reminders
Finding Flow
Some days feel erratic. There's a little bit of something here, a little bit of something there, and time feels all over. It's hard to find solid blocks of time to sit in a moment --to relish the essence that is being completely and totally rooted in that second, that place, that feeling. I miss… Continue reading Finding Flow
Living My Own Narratives
What does it mean for something to be mine and not yours? what "right" do I have to a space, a land, a boundary? Maybe I'm the "good" immigrant to them. The Ivy degree, no criminal record, "good addition" to this country checkboxes. I think about the first time someone told me that I should… Continue reading Living My Own Narratives
The Trust We Owe Ourselves
For far too long we have been seduced into walking a path that did not lead us to ourselves. For far too long we have said yes when we wanted to say no. And for far too long we have said no when we desperately wanted to say yes. . . . When we don't… Continue reading The Trust We Owe Ourselves
Wound Care
While I was living in Ghana after college there was a line in a book that really spoke to me (An Imperfect Offering) that said "No scars, no stories, no life." My body has its fair share of scars, the majority from a dog attack at a young age that left me with 32 stitches spread… Continue reading Wound Care
Caltrain Journeys
Five days a week I take the same train on most days. The 7:56am Baby Bullet from San Francisco 4th and King to Redwood City. Redwood City is one of the multiple cities found in the peninsula of the Bay Area, also known as Silicon Valley. It isn't a place that I would have ever… Continue reading Caltrain Journeys
The Difference Between Resting and Stopping
“No might make them angry but it will make you free.” ― Nayyirah Waheed If I said that I was someone who typically overcommits in their life, the people who are close to me would smirk at the understatement. While I am not a competitive person by nature, I am often deeply entrenched in a… Continue reading The Difference Between Resting and Stopping
A Deliberate Life of Healing
While reading Terry Tempest Williams I came across this line: “Women piece together their lives from the scraps left over for them.” Young girls are too often socialized to think of their highest calling in life is to give freely of themselves to others. While there is nothing inherently wrong with living a life of… Continue reading A Deliberate Life of Healing
Odelia Younge 