My friend Teagan hosted a really powerful conversation this weekend about what it means to be an ally to a community and how to speak with its members rather than for or in place of them. [1] I come into the ally/narrative conversation shaped not just by my direct experiences but also by the body of narratives that […]
We Remember Differently
We Remember Differently In November 2012, Chimamanda Adichie reflected on Chinua Achebe’s literary legacy, his gifts to her as a new writer, and his contributions to Nigeria’s rendering of its complex and traumatic recent history. Our forerunners cast a long shadow and their stories have such power. Achebe died today in Boston aged 82. Nigeria’s […]
Women Fired Up
A book recommendation via the Son of Baldwin community: Dr. Barbara Ransby‘s biography of Ella Baker, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision. Ella Josephine Baker (1903-1986) was an under-recognized organizer and operative in the 20th Century U.S Black civil rights movement. In Virginia, North Carolina, New York, and across the Southern states over nearly 30 years, […]
Lorde on Silence
The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action (1977) In becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for my life, however short it might be, priorities and omissions became strongly etched in a merciless light, and what I regretted most were my silences. Of what had I […]
01|23|13 – Who outside of God? [365 Days of Intention]
Part of Kissiah Young’s year long series, 365 Days of Intention.
Janet Mock on the Power of Words
Janet Mock on the Power of Words “Words are things,” Dr. Maya Angelou said during her 2011 Master’s Class on the Oprah Winfrey Network. “You must be careful, careful about calling people out of their names, using racial pejoratives and sexual pejoratives and all that ignorance. Don’t do that. Some day we’ll be able to measure […]