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Hey! My name is Kendra and I grew up as the token Black kid. For those of you who don’t know what that is, let me explain: The token Black kid is when you are the only Black kid in a sea full of white kids. The thing about being a token Black kid is […] More
How is a Black woman created? Is she born with ‘sass’ on her tongue and anger in her eyes? At what point in my life did my heart and my mind feel the weight of my Blackness? Was it my hair? Was it in the way my mother discouraged me from wearing it out, natural, […] More
I’ve never decided to put myself on the frontlines of anything until now. My friend, Jaylon, asked me to join him to protest on behalf of George Floyd. Of course, I opted to say yes, because I felt it would’ve been hypocritical of me to write on Black culture and not be fully down for […] More
“Home sweet home.” That’s what my mother would sometimes exclaim when she came home after a long day or when, to my delight, we’d return to our Chicago home after a weekend road trip. Lately, I’ve been reminiscing on this—wondering how the saying fits into a world where I, a Black woman, can be murdered […] More
In 1993, my mother ushered my sisters and I into the car and drove us to a neighboring town. The streets were lined with people of all races; black, brown, white… everyone eager to get a glimpse of the newly-crowned Miss South Africa. But unlike all the previous years and unlike any other Miss South […] More
What a time to be Black in America. As you read this, Black people are disproportionately dying from two pandemics: COVID-19 and racism. After witnessing the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, Black people have had enough. These names are only the recent additions to a long list of names in […] More
“I don’t see color.” The moment of uncomfortable silence after those four simple words are uttered. The sideways glances, the shifting of hands, of feet, of butts in chairs. An awkward laugh may break the quiet, but not the tension — it still lingers. In my experience, this phrase is most often proclaimed by a […] More
I grew up in a family where race was never discussed in-depth. Of course, we all knew that we were Black and we all agreed that racism was a thing. But, we made sure to blend as best as we could into the predominantly white society of western Canada. At times, I remember hating my […] More
