NOT That I’m Excellent At My Job At Beshale hotel, in Addis Ababa, I met a Friend of a friend for Ethiopian Coffee. This Friend of a friend was a white man in his late 30s. In our conversation, what position I am at the institute I work for came up. When I said I’m …
Friends Suggest To Bombard My Online Harasser’s Email With Obscene Text Bubbles, But I Won’t
Let us avoid resorting to avoid ourselves. First, he started flirting during zoom meetings. The flirtation escalated to taking screenshots of me. Then he circulated my picture among his friends and emailed me sexually explicit statements. I stood in the middle of my kitchen, powerless and hurt, my body shivered as if my online harasser …
This Precious Dark Skin
A memory told completely in poetic verse. Powerlessness your voice silenced, wrecked gutted hunched body numb body utter absence of any feeling creeps up your spine like an army of spiders. A white workspace under a spotlight, everybody breathing down your neck, suffocating, people sitting on a chair formulating a circle around your workplace looking …
Adera – A New Short Fiction
My hand trembles as I comb my Afro hair with a sturdy comb my husband gave me when our daughter was born. The comb drops on the floor. I get down to pick it up. Limbs that allowed me to get down and stand up over eight decades betray me. My body folds onto the …
A Letter To My Black Friend Crumbling Under the Weight of the ‘Strong Black Woman’ Cape
And to you if you’re carrying the pervasive stereotype on your shoulders. You’re crumbling under the weight of the ‘strong black woman’ cape. Your colleagues didn’t ask you, “How are you doing?” They heard about your recent online sexual harassment. And yet. How you are sleeping at night and if you’re even sleeping at night, …
‘I’m Not Sure That You’re Quite Princeton Material,’ – Lyrical Essay
You’re supposed to accomplish less and succeed less than everyone else. In the eighth episode of The First Lady TV series, a young Michelle Robinson (the now Michelle Obama) sits on the edge of her seat in her guidance counselor’s office, waiting for the counselor to finish reading her school records. A few minutes later, the white …
An Open Letter to Writers Who Are Struggling With the Worst Kind of Feedback
Or with terrible writing advice. “You’re a terrible writer! You should stop writing!” A friend of mine received that advice in her inbox last week. A stranger has formed the strongest opinion about my friend. Her simple existence on the internet is offending this guy deeply. She has never even shared the same air with …
Buna Ceremony In Ethiopia
Here’s to drinking good coffee. I love coffee (we call coffee “buna” in Ethiopia). A traditional coffee ceremony reminds me of home. Culture. Family gathering. Connection. I love coffee so much that I do not prepare it like I clear the dinner dishes. I prepare coffee as a Japanese person performs a tea ceremony, with …
11 Thought-Provoking Gems From Black Writers For Any White Person Committed to Antiracism Work
Sometimes words can help you put words to action, which might be exactly what you need. Sometimes words can be daggers that pierce through injustice. They can disarm you with love. When tackling such a thorny issue of race and racism, words are powerful. They can unify or divide us. Sometimes words can cut through …
‘Why Am I Finding Only a Few Black Women Essays on Your Blog?’
An answer to a reader’s question. Thank you to all new subscribers who subscribed to my blog this week! One of my readers emailed me a question, ‘why am I finding only a few black women essays on your blog?’ a few days ago. Here’s my answer: If you’re like my reader who is wondering …