My Intersectional Life
I am a New Yorker. Ever since 9-11, I have felt like I have an X on my back. This feeling does not replace the vulnerability I feel as a Black woman in the United States. It increases it. It grows my unease, my dis-ease. [...]
You Say You Don’t See Color
You say you don't see color Do you see flowers? lavender and pink Carroty, crimson, and umber? What about the dress I'm wearing? Do you see its color? I wonder Is it black and blue or white and gold? I recall the frenzy — All over color. [...]
Hey Mama
Hey Mama, I’m feeling alone this morning. I miss Mississippi. I miss you. How you feeling? Hey Kie, I’m tired. I’m wearing the pearl bracelet that you gave me. It is so beautiful. This morning I managed to get it locked alone. Did [...]
Your Race, Your Pace
My friend hurled those words out, mid-rant, on the ride home from a very poorly planned fund raiser. We had purchased tickets in support of a scholarship fund for high-school seniors who had “overcome life-changing obstacles to achieve academic success.” As doctoral students who had [...]
It’s Harvest Time for Selma!
It’s Harvest Time for Selma. Selma sowed abundantly in 1965, 50 years ago. It sowed blood, sacrifice, courage, struggle, victory, freedom and more. People all over this country and across the world have reaped the fruits of Selma’s sowing. Yet Selma has benefited little from [...]
Why America’s Higher Education Needs Reform
The Walnut Bowl draws comics at www.thewalnutbowl.com | Follow Walnut Bowl @thewalnutbowl This piece was reprinted by EmpathyEducates with permission or license. We thank the Illustrator, Cartoonist Walnut Bowl. We are grateful for his kindness and for broaching what remains hidden; there is a need [...]
Mapping Police Violence
Explore the Data On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown Jr. was murdered by Officer Darren Wilson, sparking nationwide protests against police killings of Black people. This map, a project of WeTheProtesters.org, bears witness to the Black men and women who have been killed at [...]
A Letter to My Son Jacob on his 5th Birthday
It was a frigid New England February day, much like this one, when we were first introduced. Of course, I imagined that I knew something about you beforehand, by the way you moved and kicked and somersaulted in my belly — by your satisfied silences and painful [...]