I used to think that to answer the big life questions I had to make my way through a labyrinth of experiences to reach understanding. But the more I know the more convinced there is no solid ground upon which to stand. It is all ocean. As far as I can see.
Read More
My liberation, the liberation of my peoples will not come because I will it to. It will not come because I insist on leaning on prayer alone. It will come on the heels of revolution- rage in its mouth, empathy its underbelly, and courage in its paws. It will come heralded by Black women and Black LGBTQIA+ people. It will be intersectional or else it will be thrown out as false.
Read More
My therapist told me
You're either alive or you're not
There is no in between.
So here I am, alive for now.
Writer, for now.
On May 30 I released my first book. My book, Lightning On My Fingertips, is a poetry collection that is an exploration in identity and a statement in resilience. I released it for free and did not plan on anything after that. However, readers started contacting me and asking if I was accepting money to honour the work I did. So, on June 2nd I gave out my Venmo and Paypal and accepted money. Then, I committed to donating 50% of all the money I was given between June 2nd and June 9th
Read More
I had seen the stories and knew the names; being black and moving through white spaces and past white people was a game of Russian roulette. Every black person knows this. The bullets will come, they always do; white supremacy is a loaded gun that takes without remorse and never suffers consequence. Being black is a gamble and your life is always what is at stake.
Read More
Survival is gritty and humbling and heartbreaking and real. This is hard work. Existing. Just ask your neighbor. Just asking yourself. Living is a full time job. We all are doing what we can with what we have and who we have. This is not a contest to see who can stay breathing and look the best doing so. It also is not a battle to determine who has the best attitude or can do the most. It is what it is.
Read More
So this is my break up note to you and everyone else who thinks they can simultaneously love me and the marginalized while partaking in our oppression and denying us dignity. James Baldwin said, “We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” He was onto something there.
Read More
I now realize that the severity of another’s trouble does not diminish mine. Perspective is great to have, but not at the cost of denying your reality or emotions…. We can all feel the full extent of our emotions and the world will still keep going. We can allow for others to experience their humanity without losing our own.
Read More
Everyone is saying we are in uncharted waters right now. Like we don’t know these currents and this water doesn’t call us by name. Maybe the waves break differently and the water prefers to be known differently, but we’ve been here before.
Read More
This is me telling you, world, that I will be doing art again. Visual art, to be exact. Also, I will continue writing. And dancing. And singing. And leaning into the good so far that I will not lose myself again in a life that is not for me. This is also me inviting you to create with me. We do not have to subscribe the the bullshit that what we produce has to be our best. Or something worthy of love from society. Hell, we don’t even have to show anyone what we are working on. Because art, after all, is for the maker. Every witness is just blessed to be able to partake in observance.
Read More
I realized that there is a real possibility of this virus wrecking some havoc in my body. Which is scary thought. Before this realization I did care about those affected. But now, it’s personal.
And if I am to be honest with myself, it always should have been.
We are not on this earth to live in separation from each other. What hurts one of us, should hurt us all. We are only as taken care of as our most vulnerable. We are only as strong as our weakest. We are all in this together, even if we don’t want to admit that. We are each other’s neighbors and family. We are all children of mother earth- inextricably intertwined with each other. This. Is. Personal.
Read More
It is no longer enough to just want the best for all races and want racism to end. It is also no longer enough to know people who use their voices in the fight against racism, white supremacy, and these systems we live in. And in reality, it never was enough in the first place. These spaces I speak in get lonely when I am the only one in conversation. They also are not productive when only people of colour are the ones invested. So I invite you into this, whatever * this is- take it as you want.
Read More
But here is the kicker: Whiteness does not get the last word. It does not get to decide who I am, or who we are. It does not get to determine the validity of my experience of the experiences of those it habitually overlooks and oppresses. I am someone’s daughter, sister, friend, and valued coworker. I am someone. Which is to say I am alive, human, complex and whole. I choose my pain. I choose my joy. And I choose all the moments in between and outside these two truths.
Read More
It is almost like America thought that death would stop us from remembering that these bodies once lived and loved. But America got it wrong. Death does not stop remembrance and the ground is not beholden to the silence we ask it to keep.
Read More
I often think of myself as a sunflower planted in the soil, waiting to grow up. But yesterday I blinked and I was already up, grown and growing.
Read More
Struggling as I may be, this will not all be in vain. My foundation is truth and love and I am ever searching for light in this journey of mine.
Read More
Before if you would ask me the quickest way to erase somebody I would say it would be to tell them they were nothing. But now I am convinced the quickest way is to stop saying their name, stop hearing their voice, and refuse to look them in the eyes.
Read More
Marilynne Robinson, in her book, Home, writes, “Weary or bitter of bewildered as we may be, God is faithful. He lets us wander so we will know what it is like to come home.” After two months of bitterness I was holding onto this quote until my weary feet could find some rest.
Read More