Therapy is the supportive process of accompanying one’s journey of transcendence from darkness to light to darkness again, ultimately landing somewhere in…
Part I: Just For Me I look forward to the tri-annual ritual. My mother prepares to sacrifice her firstborn to the white…
My grandma’s house was always full. The hinges on the front door were almost invisible. In the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, not…
It is 2014. You are a Nigerian living in the United States. You are the parent of a U.S.-born child. The immigration…
I. Places that I am terrified of returning to: Shitty $49-a-night motels with dingy sheets and showers overrun with mildew smelling of…
At the produce markets that populated Church Avenue, if someone cut in line or pushed her while trying to squeeze past, my…
“I love your hair. You did it yourself?” “Aww, thank you. I wish. I can’t cornrow.” “Wait, you’re a little Black girl…
“Then [Noah] sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.” Genesis…
Hair like strong twine, sweet like the harvest of a California grape vine, to stop the spread of your smile is the…
“My name is Tavonne Carson. I’m six years old.” If she hadn’t said my name, I wouldn’t have believed the little girl…
The girl you ask to dinner will never show you her true face. Her deep, caramelized skin is carefully concealed beneath layers…
I guess I’ve been an art historian, informally I’d say I’ve always “geeked out over art,” since my teens in San Francisco.…
I hear my student say that word and I’m not surprised. I knew this student was going to say it because this…
It’s late afternoon as we climb into my father’s gray Mercedes. As we stay stationary in the garage, I lean my fro…
When I arrive, the first part of the journey is to walk past the avid chain smoking of the other residents. Each…
Dear God, It’s your Ugandan daughter, with the 4C hair. As you know, I was born in Mengo Hospital between day and…