“What does it mean to defend the dead?”
Social death is the condition of not being accepted as human. It is the condition of being Black. But I am here, aren’t I?
Thoughts on Tennis
The capacity and strength to process your way through, allowing yourself to feel all the frustration, all the anger, all the fear to fuel a greater blooming. This is more than finding a silver lining. It’s about accepting the feels as they come, allowing them to wash over you, to consume you, and then finding your consciousness within the emotional climax, channeling it into something new.
Self-Celebration
May 20 was supposed to be a day that celebrated the closing of my chapter at NYU: holding commencement ceremonies with my family, friends, and peers. Instead, it’s a day that represents healing and a deeply reflective self-celebration.
What COVID Teaches Us About Diversity andInclusion
As we begin to imagine beyond the current crisis, this conversation guide offers a way to evaluate current COVID-19-related decisions and to consider how diversity, equity, and inclusion factor into recovery and transition plans and the evolution of the workplace in the post-COVID-19 world.
I’ve Been Typing Up Toxic Texts
Combing through words like a thicket of jungle vines, paws tracing her steps in the soft earth.
On Black Optimism and Other Forms of Magic
Black Optimism that offers an even brighter stain of hope on this grueling exploration of Black/Human. Blackness is “walking in another world while passing through this one.” It is a state of disorientation, of being and unbeing at once.
Black Girl in Berlin
I’ve been in Berlin for 6 weeks, living and working as a part of my master’s fellowship. There aren’t many Black women, let alone Black Germans.
Lonely in New York
It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I’ve been hiding in plain sight. How many people have added this chapter to their journey? Coming to New York for self-discovery, for a revelation of purpose and destiny.
Origins of Blackness
My summers on Staunton Avenue with my family and Paul Laurence Dunbar socialized attitudes about Blackness that continue to be a source of pride. The performance of Blackness was inextricably linked with intellect, beauty, humor, and (historic and immediate) community. These would be the initial influences of not only the way I viewed myself as Black but also how I viewed other Black people. Eventually, this notion of self would be challenged by encounters with the outside, non-Black world.
Alone, Together
One of the things that can be most frustrating about being alone is that your refuge is in your head. You go through these ridiculous loops with yourself. It’s almost a form of insecurity, eating you from the inside out. You are hyper-aware of yourself when you’re alone–more of that me against the world mentality that turns your sound reasoning into mush. Fortunately, I was able to release a little bit of that paranoia for long enough to get a bit of hope for the future.
Introducing the Lonely Black Gal
Being the Lonely Black Gal is that state of duality: wanting to be alone and being forced into isolation. Knowing that your solitude is both curated and necessary.
