identity Archives | midnight & indigo

From Eden to Gethsemane, and All the Gardens Thereafter

Sienna Morgan — Wed, 14 May 2025 04:00:32 +0000

What did it mean for a black woman to be an artist in our grandmothers’ time? In our great-grandmothers’ day? It is a question with an answer cruel enough to stop the blood. — Alice Walker My maternal grandmother’s name was Dorothy Chandler Collins. She was born on August 13, 1916. Ma, as we affectionately called her, birthed and raised 13 children, 3 boys, and 10 girls, and had the greenest fingers. Supporting herself and her children as a widow in 1961, she found subsistence in planting and harvesting crops in the fields of Dortches, Battleboro, and Red Oak, North

The post From Eden to Gethsemane, and All the Gardens Thereafter appeared first on midnight & indigo.

American Wonder: Notes on Cultural shock, Culinary delight, and Unexpected friendship

Ehi Ogwiji — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 05:00:05 +0000

I took the longest strides of my life during my first winter in America. Race-walking in between classes as my nostrils felt slithering pain at every inhalation and exhalation. When I packed up everything— my belongings that could fit in two suitcases— no one told me to bring the familiar smell of home or hug my mother long enough to go months without an affectionate touch. I think of my two 46kg suitcases as the ball of soil a seedling carries from the nursery bed to its permanent site. The ball of soil falls off grain by grain and your

The post American Wonder: Notes on Cultural shock, Culinary delight, and Unexpected friendship appeared first on midnight & indigo.

“You Mustn’t Use Magic When Throwing Bones”

Amuna Wagner — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 05:00:49 +0000

“They’re making fun of my Arabic,” whispers my cousin as he squeezes next to me. I roll my eyes, unwilling to move over. My face muscles are sore from all the silent smiling; perceiving people perceive me, smiling at their unwarranted encouragement, smiling away their disappointment. Zahid, meanwhile, has made a home in this colorful house filled with beds instead of sofas. His pride in our heritage deepens with every family story he learns, while I am resenting every word rolling off his Arabic tongue from my mute corner seat. He fooled me into believing that we would be in

The post “You Mustn’t Use Magic When Throwing Bones” appeared first on midnight & indigo.

the privilege of size

Jasminum McMullen — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 04:00:35 +0000

My story will be faithful to reality, or at least to my personal recollection of reality, which is the same thing. The events took place in the Fall of 2018 after a Michael and Janet Jackson themed lip-sync competition at Sidetracks in Boystown. I learned about the competition from my colleague and agreed to attend. After work, I stopped home for a second shower, cologne, and to change clothes. In the closet, I reached for a tour tee and pulled one from Unbreakable. I’d wear a zip-up hoodie, something I wouldn’t necessarily need to coat check. In the mirror, I

The post the privilege of size appeared first on midnight & indigo.

Illium, Ischium, and Pubis: For Black Women, Hips Are More Than Just Bones

Christian Loriel — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 04:00:43 +0000

Once, a former co-worker of mine stopped me in the middle of working, calling my name. I turned to him, with no malice or annoyance, planting my hands on my hips, eyes wide, preparing either for work-related rumors, or a request for assistance. His eyes spread wider than my own. “Oh, what’s this?” Placing his hands on his hips, he mocked me. He found my gesture funny, yet questioned if I was upset. No one had ever alerted me to how I touch my hips often and that I look “upset” while committing such an act. I was embarrassed, actually.

The post Illium, Ischium, and Pubis: For Black Women, Hips Are More Than Just Bones appeared first on midnight & indigo.

On Finding and Losing

Dorcas Akobundu — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 04:00:20 +0000

“Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what no other can do.” –William Ellery Channing Rainfall is my go-to means of escape. Perhaps God agrees to this with its bountiful supply in the state I reside in: Rivers State. I’m only happy when it rains by Garbage has a safe space in my head, often playing on repeat when the rain comes falling down. Today, however, it is different, because my skin feels different. My head is a big balloon filled with what I’m told to

The post On Finding and Losing appeared first on midnight & indigo.

Family Ties

K E Garland — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 05:00:37 +0000

My mother was born with one kidney when most of us are born with two. This sole organ singlehandedly cleansed her system, until it, too, shut down—deciding that providing full functioning for her body was too much to bear. By her twenties, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were devoted to hospital visits. She spent four hours in a reclining chair, where she covered her torso and legs with a warm woven blanket to prepare for dialysis. When I was a child, I sat beside her and watched a machine pull blood, bright and crimsoned, from her bulging fistula, into a tube

The post Family Ties appeared first on midnight & indigo.

The Shop

Jessica Kelley — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 04:02:30 +0000

Following closely behind church and Grandmama’s House, the third most important cultural center/gathering place in the Black community is The Shop. This can be the barbershop or the beauty shop. I don’t know much about barbershops outside of a few visits with my brother when we were young. They aren’t for women, unless you have a young son who needs a cut and his dad or uncles are otherwise unavailable to take him. Sometimes you can get away with going if you’ve got a brush cut or a taper that needs fading and your stylist isn’t so good with the

The post The Shop appeared first on midnight & indigo.

Close Encounters of the “Angry Black Woman” Kind

Barbara Bruner — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 04:00:14 +0000

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 expecting it. A little bit of contextual background may be helpful here. I enjoy reading mysteries. Probably a holdover from a childhood obsessed with Nancy Drew books. As an adult, my current obsession is with a series based on Stephanie Plum, a female bounty hunter and a colorful cast of characters who are way more comical than competent. The sidekick is named Lula, an overweight, spandex-wearing, grammatically challenged Black woman with an

The post Close Encounters of the “Angry Black Woman” Kind appeared first on midnight & indigo.

Wash Day

Rose-Marie Athiley — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 04:00:46 +0000

Part I: Just For Me I look forward to the tri-annual ritual. My mother prepares to sacrifice her firstborn to the white man’s god. The hair growing from my seven-year-old head is the physical offering; my self-esteem and self-love are the tributes beyond sight. Temporary satisfaction disguised as permanent beauty makes me feel like I’m living up to the standards never meant for me. The hands of the unlicensed chemist open the box of Just For Me relaxer and put on the provided gloves for protection. She no longer needs to read the French instructions. My mother takes the liquid

The post Wash Day appeared first on midnight & indigo.