Subterms
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
At 25, I was living in Chicago by myself in a shoebox of an apartment with little money, a broken heart, and no sense of direction. I remember walking along the lake path every night in a cloud of depression wondering when things would start to make sense. I wanted desperately to be able to point to […] More
Call me crazy, but I’ve always tried my best to feel grateful for tough times. Every job interview that didn’t pan out and every relationship that ended opened up the opportunity for bigger and better things. However, there are some times where it feels selfish, wrong, or impossible to look for a “silver lining.” Sometimes […] More
I was born in a suburb of Chicago, raised in a (different) suburb of Chicago, and then spent four magical years in Fort Worth, Texas studying journalism and public relations. I spent every summer of college working at a camp in Michigan (also magical)—but knew I wanted to return home to Chicagoland when I graduated […] More
