Traumatized Bodies, Desensitized Minds

As more footage of the late Sandra Bland’s final hours of life spirals onto the desks of talking heads and news channel producers, I think it’s important to acknowledge the ability of film to distort and desensitize us to the abuse of another human being. We live in an age and culture where we have… Continue reading Traumatized Bodies, Desensitized Minds

The Denied Humanity of Poor Folk

Over the past couple of years, I have noticed an unnerving trend in my social circles—both on- and offline—as well as in the media regarding the way many highly educated and middle- and upper-class individuals talk about the poor. To be frank, the sentiments have been downright dehumanizing. The use of platforms such as Facebook… Continue reading The Denied Humanity of Poor Folk

An Open Letter to Asian-Americans

Dear Asian-Americans: You already know the drill. We live in a country where every time we turn on the TV, hardly anyone looks like us. No one in the movies has looked like us since we were kids. Onscreen, the ones who do look like us are either math nerds, asexual corporate drones, or prostitutes.… Continue reading An Open Letter to Asian-Americans

On My Moral Contention to Capital Punishment

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” -Romans 12:19 (King James Version)   I don’t believe in capital punishment. The idea of killing someone to as punishment for killing someone else is, frankly, ass-backwards logic. This is my… Continue reading On My Moral Contention to Capital Punishment

Finding a Place Between the World and Ourselves

I had been anticipating Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book, Between the World and Me for all of three weeks. I must confess, I had not heard he was writing a book and I did not want to know too much of its content before reading it, in the same way that I detest previews and would rather watch… Continue reading Finding a Place Between the World and Ourselves

Results May Vary

Disclaimer: Results may vary. Results not typical. Exercise may result in injury. Please don’t try this at home. Always consult your physician before beginning any exercise program. A disclaimer is a statement renouncing a legal claim or right. These are mostly used to protect a party when a level of uncertainty or risk is possible.… Continue reading Results May Vary

Blood Brothers: Haitians in the Dominican Republic

One could say that the whole mess started in 2013, when the Constitutional Court, the supreme judicial body of the Dominican Republic, immediately rendered some 200,000 of its citizens stateless. “The ruling retroactively stripped Dominicans of Haitian descent of citizenship back to 1929,” says France François, spokesperson for the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Haitian Professionals… Continue reading Blood Brothers: Haitians in the Dominican Republic

Black Men and “Distractions”

“Black women as a group have never been fools. We couldn’t afford to be.” –Barbara Smith Black women are facing a drought of allies during a time when black people in the United States are battling a turbulent racist climate. These moments illustrate that things are not so different from the past our parents and… Continue reading Black Men and “Distractions”

Empowering a “Lost” Generation to Lead

It’s easy to look at the skinny jean-wearing, incomprehensible music-listening, “on fleek” youth of today and say that they’re a lost generation. The narrative is nothing new—it’s what our parents have said of us, and what our parents’ parents said of them. But recently, it was made very clear to me that our youth are… Continue reading Empowering a “Lost” Generation to Lead