Someone on #bookstagram told me that All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson is a YA memoir and I’m shook. I used to care about designations like YA, but as I get older, that label means nothing to me. I may read some books intended for children and young adults, but adults usually write… Continue reading Connections through stories of suffering
Two years ago, I went through an identity crisis. I had just graduated from grad school and I was trying to figure out who I was as an independent adult. I went straight through undergrad to grad school, so at that point I had been a student going to school all my life. I didn’t… Continue reading Identity Crisis
Hey y’all! It’s been a long time. I shouldn’t have left you, without a dope beat to step to. Step to, step to, step to. Step to, step to. *wicky-wicky-wah* I’m back with my thoughts about The Nickel Boys! The Nickel Boys is unlike anything I have read before. I have read books about prison,… Continue reading School’s Out
You were never broken You were always whole You may not feel at home in your body But you have every right to feel loved You are like Samson, drawing strength from your hair Changing its shape, like clouds in the sky Changing its color, like leaves in autumn Changing its length, texture, style… Continue reading A Home Body
We met in the cafeteria in fifth grade. A girl told me I wasn’t Black enough I carried that in my heart throughout my adolescence Distancing myself from who I was I hated myself as they hate me And here you are You’ve always been here, before me Before my mother’s mother’s mother You… Continue reading The Arch
I am softness I am feeling the duality-- warmth on one side, cold on the other I would rather be over there I am part of the rotation, interchangeable I am weighed down by the parts that others shed I dream of being clean and pure again I want to be wanted for my comfort… Continue reading Softness
Trauma. This word is buzzing around my head after I finished Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson. So many iterations and layers of trauma. So many ways it can show up in the body of a black girl and a black woman. The trauma of a best friend who disappeared. Of lost children. Of… Continue reading Somebody sing a Black girl’s song
Today is my birthday! And somehow in the whirlwind that has been the last few weeks, my blog has also had a birthday. Lately I have been reflecting on my intentions with this blog and the direction I want to go in the future. I am so proud of the progress I have made with… Continue reading Happy Birthday
I have just finished Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb and I blubbered like a baby as it was finishing. Not because it was particularly sad, but because it struck a chord with me during the 5th anniversary of my grandmother passing. Bess writes about her grandmother, but in a way… Continue reading Stories Nobody Will Tell
When the humans left, I could breathe a little easier The Sun shown a little brighter The morning air a little crisper The spring rains a little purer When the humans left I could stretch my limbs higher I didn't mind my middle growing rounder I love my mane growing fuller I can feel my… Continue reading The Day the Humans Left
