I was thirteen years old. I’ll never forget the sounds of the buckles, straps, and buttons on my football equipment. The three week old cut grass smell ran wild through the air as my teammates and I gathered into a circle for a helmet clashing session of post practice “bull in the ring.” You see,… Continue reading The Forgotten Few
Tag: Personal Essay
My Kind of Gospel
Yes, I’ll admit it. I was a choir boy. I was the seven-year-old that would have singing lessons with his grandma that wouldn’t end until I either held my notes longer than her, or practiced my scales to her pleasing. Embarrassingly, I wanted to be in the choir for many years, and when I finally… Continue reading My Kind of Gospel
Hola, Morocha
As I maneuvered the shit-laden sidewalks of San Telmo, a gently gentrified neighborhood of Buenos Aires, I couldn’t help but hear the Sesame Street song “one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong,” playing from an imaginary loudspeaker. To see people’s reactions to me, you’d think I… Continue reading Hola, Morocha
Life Away from the World
In 2007, I signed a contract that would forever change my life: a four-year agreement with the United States Marine Corps. I soon learned the true meaning of honor, courage, and commitment. At 20 years old, I had responsibilities that not many young men my age would regularly have. I trained hard and gave my… Continue reading Life Away from the World
Train Up a Child
From an early age, I wanted to be a mother. I never thought too deeply about how I would raise my children or the values I’d instill into them, but I figured when the time came I’d sit down and discuss it with my husband. As I’m closing in on the final months of my… Continue reading Train Up a Child
Martinique
The best ideas happen around 3am. That’s my experience, at least. They tend to be superlative decisions if someone in the decision matrix is inebriated or otherwise compromised by more than mere exhaustion. Hence, when my inebriated host suggested I take an early morning ferry from the monastery in Saint Lucia where I was staying… Continue reading Martinique
Just a Citizen of the World
Who am I? Where am I from? I was born in Geneva, Switzerland, but people sometimes give me the look when I tell them I’m Swiss. I was told many times, “Go back home!” “Go back to Africa!” When I heard that, I kept telling them that I was born in Switzerland and therefore my… Continue reading Just a Citizen of the World
Set Adrift on the West Coast
This was somewhat foreign territory for me. The West Coast of South Africa was about as far as you could get from where I grew up, at least without leaving the country all together. Now, living in Cape Town, the ice cold waters of the West were not much further away than a few moments… Continue reading Set Adrift on the West Coast