Journals

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 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 [...]

I was four years old the first time that I was called nigger. It was my first day at Athens Preschool Academy. APA — who feels like writing Athens Preschool Academy over and over again — was — is I think — located on the Atlanta Highway in my hometown. It had a [...]

There is a Mississippi that we remember and the one in which we live. Beginning today these might differ. Judge Carlton Reeves recounts our history and declares there is A New Mississippi. For as long as most of us can [...]

From early childhood through young adulthood, my wife and I lived lives dedicated to sports—she a real and successful athlete (state champion, MVP, honorable mention All-American), and me a sincere, hard-working wanna-be. Our daughter was born in 1989, and I am sure we almost immediately [...]

There’s a reason why, when a woman whispers her story of sexual abuse, when she writes about it, when she Tweets about it or carries a mattress around on her back, calls the police or a rape crisis line, I believe her. The reason is [...]

During one of the recent polar vortex school closings, someone posted on Facebook about having to help her daughters read a recipe card. Her daughters are excellent readers who are in grades 3 and 6. So why couldn't they read the neatly written directions? Well, [...]

I was a senior at Cornell University when I was arrested for heroin possession. As an addict — a condition that began during a deep depression — I was muddling my way through classes and doing many things I would come to regret, including selling [...]

I cannot even begin to express how hurt I am as an African American in this country. I cannot express how hurt I am for the families of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and anyone else who has lost a child at the hands of [...]