What did it mean for a black woman to be an artist in our grandmothers’ time? In our great-grandmothers’ day? It is…
I took the longest strides of my life during my first winter in America. Race-walking in between classes as my nostrils felt…
“They’re making fun of my Arabic,” whispers my cousin as he squeezes next to me. I roll my eyes, unwilling to move…
My story will be faithful to reality, or at least to my personal recollection of reality, which is the same thing. The…
Once, a former co-worker of mine stopped me in the middle of working, calling my name. I turned to him, with no…
“Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what…
My mother was born with one kidney when most of us are born with two. This sole organ singlehandedly cleansed her system,…
Following closely behind church and Grandmama’s House, the third most important cultural center/gathering place in the Black community is The Shop. This…
The e-mail message was as jarring as the sound of an alarm clock on Saturday morning. Especially since I didn’t know the…
Part I: Just For Me I look forward to the tri-annual ritual. My mother prepares to sacrifice her firstborn to the white…
It is 2014. You are a Nigerian living in the United States. You are the parent of a U.S.-born child. The immigration…
I. Places that I am terrified of returning to: Shitty $49-a-night motels with dingy sheets and showers overrun with mildew smelling of…
At the produce markets that populated Church Avenue, if someone cut in line or pushed her while trying to squeeze past, my…
“Then [Noah] sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.” Genesis…
The girl you ask to dinner will never show you her true face. Her deep, caramelized skin is carefully concealed beneath layers…