As Bill Withers plays in the background about grandma’s hands, I look down at my own. I have my grandmother’s hands. They are small with fat fingers. I once was told they looked like Vienna sausages. I simply…
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The parents had been seduced by the impalpable sanctuary of a promise. They had been lured by a cool and crisp country flowing with potential. They were to be foreigners living in a foreign land, spacious and fertile for opportunity.…
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The leaves on the two maple trees in the yard beamed a spectacular fiery red as the blue bottles that hung from them shimmered…
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“Again! And sit up straight! You’re slouching.” Naledi repositioned herself on the stool in front of the piano. Her legs, dangling, were starting to…
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No roads led here, this place like a scar of an old wound. No signs marked its location, no post hung with its name.…
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My nails kept time on the arm of the chaise to the ticking of the wall clock. I looked at her blankly, no answer to her question. She repeated it. “Do you want another baby more than the life you…
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My journey to motherhood has at once been a step forward into uncharted territory and a step back into an almost forgotten vulnerability. I am Black, Queer, Woman.…
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I changed jobs earlier in the year. It was the type of job that had me jump from plane to plane and airport to airport as a consultant.…
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The e-mail message was as jarring as the sound of an alarm clock on Saturday morning. Especially since I didn’t know the sender and was in no way…
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I text Alicia that I’m outside and when she responds, I’m already ringing the doorbell. the text was just a courtesy. whether she’s ready for…
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It was called “Tika Zika”. They gave us instructions to lock ourselves away from each other. No neighbors, friends, nothing–no matter what. My niece played…
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I watched from my seat in the sparsely populated bleachers as the swimmers began to assemble for the first race. Underlying the smell of chlorine…
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The girl you ask to dinner will never show you her true face. Her deep, caramelized skin is carefully concealed beneath layers of formality and…
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“I’m sorry for your loss. Though the coroner’s report said your father departed on June 29th, July 1 (2005) will be the official date of…
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I hear my student say that word and I’m not surprised. I knew this student was going to say it because this student is clueless…
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Dear God, It’s your Ugandan daughter, with the 4C hair. As you know, I was born in Mengo Hospital between day and night. My mother…
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They built a church on the land where my body was broken. Parishioners come every Sunday morning believing it to be holy ground. Yet I…
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1966 Sweat trickled down James’s forehead. The screaming from the crowd was earsplitting. The lights were so bright around the ring, and he couldn’t even…
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