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…
Read MoreAs 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…
Read MoreThe 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.…
MoreThe leaves on the two maple trees in the yard beamed a spectacular fiery red as the blue bottles that hung from them shimmered…
More“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…
MoreNo roads led here, this place like a scar of an old wound. No signs marked its location, no post hung with its name.…
MoreMy 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…
Keep ReadingMy 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.…
MoreI 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.…
MoreThe 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…
MoreI 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…
MoreIt 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…
MoreI’m not good at being a witch. To say that I’m incompetent wouldn’t even cover it. My witchcraft is an amateur cocktail of earnest internet…
MoreI watched from my seat in the sparsely populated bleachers as the swimmers began to assemble for the first race. Underlying the smell of chlorine…
MoreThe girl you ask to dinner will never show you her true face. Her deep, caramelized skin is carefully concealed beneath layers of formality and…
More“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…
MoreShe slid out of the driver’s side of her SUV, not noticing the dark-colored sports coupe parked just on the other side of her. Head…
MoreI 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…
MoreDear 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…
MoreThey built a church on the land where my body was broken. Parishioners come every Sunday morning believing it to be holy ground. Yet I…
More1966 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…
More