I attended my first TEDx event in early January, and weeks later I am still processing how to translate what I felt into an experience that anyone can relate to. There’s no doubt this conference helped shape the trajectory of what this year and beyond could look like for me, as I bridge the gap… Continue reading My First TEDx Event
Year: 2016
Haiti, the Haitian people and Black History Month
Excerpts of a speech given at the Lycée Philippe Guerrier of Cap-Haitian of which he was the Director, by Louis Mercier, for the dedication of the portrait of Lincoln offered by the great friend of Haiti, the American Ernst Schwarz. Also of note: Louis Mercier was my maternal grandfather. The most impressive monument I ever… Continue reading Haiti, the Haitian people and Black History Month
You Can’t Celebrate Black History While Destroying Black Futures
Black History Month is the lone time of year when blackness becomes safe to celebrate by those who love black people and those who loathe us. Love is the easy part. I love my people. February is the month where that love kicks into overdrive. It’s the 28 or 29 days out of the year… Continue reading You Can’t Celebrate Black History While Destroying Black Futures
The Duty of Public Black Intellectualism
While taking a mass communication class last semester, I learned the average person reads at around a sixth grade reading level. Think about that for a moment, a sixth grade reading level, which means if I am writing to the average person even about complex and multifaceted issues, I must retain the ability to condense… Continue reading The Duty of Public Black Intellectualism
Perception is Everything
My little black girl is three years old, and I’m probably hyper concerned [1] about images of black womaness and their impact on her emotional and physical growth. For as long as I possibly can, I want some say over the representations that flood her developing psyche. That being said, my husband and I surround… Continue reading Perception is Everything
graveyard shift. (a poem)
My superstitions are unable to last ‘cause I can’t hold my breath any longer. There is no quickened pace, there is no passing by. I’m interred in a cemetery of brown hashtags. I’ve been shoved into a reeking sepulcher. The rot of piles upon piles of strange fruit seeps into my pores. Above me circle… Continue reading graveyard shift. (a poem)
Why Must We Always Forgive?
“If he asks for forgiveness, I can forgive him.” These are the words of Audrey DuBose after a reporter callously asked her if she could forgive Ray Tensing for executing her son over a traffic stop. I spent the better half of ninety minutes watching the press conference where Prosecutor Joe Deters did his job… Continue reading Why Must We Always Forgive?
Going Natural: How My Natural Hair Journey Helped Me Be a Better Husband
My hair is a coarse jungle of curls interwoven so tightly I can lose things in it. And I have; I’ve ruined more than one pen when I realized, too late, I was detangling in the shower. The coils coil on themselves, forming natural locks at the slightest provocation. Knots form at the ends when… Continue reading Going Natural: How My Natural Hair Journey Helped Me Be a Better Husband
Freedom (a short story)
“Next up to the mic…” A voice over the PA system announced to the crowd anxiously awaiting the next poet in the Open Mic lineup. Langston sat in the back, remembering what his first time felt like. “Next up to the mic is a young man who goes by the name of Langston. You know… Continue reading Freedom (a short story)
The Bronze Titan: Antonio Maceo, Cuba’s Greatest Warrior
Over two dozen bullet and machete wounds scarred his body. He survived three assassination attempts in three different countries. He fought in hundreds of battles over the course of his life, and Winston Churchill turned twenty-one years of age while taking heavy fire from one of his units. Antonio Maceo’s larger than life exploits are… Continue reading The Bronze Titan: Antonio Maceo, Cuba’s Greatest Warrior