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

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

Published
Categorized as Black Women

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)

Published
Categorized as Poetry

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?

Published
Categorized as Forgiveness

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

Published
Categorized as Black Hair

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