Edge of Fifty
On not being the little girl I used to be.
Bubbles
At the time it seemedThey would laaaaastForEverMy girls floated in space around meAll beads and braids and giggles and balliesAnd
Souls in the Wood
This was my first Haitian home. Stranded at the airport I knew nothing of Port-au-Prince’s landscape. I had studied much
A Severed Essay
On Severance, a show about stripping identity and forcing labor. So, I have an essay brewing in me. It’s a
Mother’s Day with Jesmyn Ward
Well, it’s the day after Mother’s Day but I know the holiday will be on my mind tonight when she
What’s 76 minus 35 to an 8th grader whose dad is dying?
It’s my dad’s birthday. I’m thinking about the 35 years since I last saw him.
Dear Eusebia
I was 22 when my tears first learned to harden in my eyes. A daughter of Africa, Virginia and Newark, I found myself closest to what I would call home in a hospital along the Artibonite River.
How it felt to read “Big Girl” with my daughter…
What Sullivan offers us big girls through Malaya with so much care and love is a reminder of our agency.
My Pittsburgh in a Pantoum
This is the first draft of a poem I’m working on about the tension Black womxn in Pittsburgh sometimes feel about the perennial question of whether to stay or leave what has been documented as one of the worst cities for us.
Do & She Do
or just thank you to Yona Harvey Three important things happened to me on October 1, 2014. My younger sisterYvonne
You Should Write A Memoir
This one goes out to all the folks using TV watching as a distraction for dealing with grief.
Black Women Could Go Anywhere Else
Just thinking about Black womxn and femmes tonight and wanting to be sassy always and wanting to be never scared. So I write.
Dear Issa M. Mas
“Grief Thoughts” by Issa M. Mas is the gift 2022 didn’t tell me was coming my way. I’m so grateful.
Dear Kiese Laymon
I’m still writing letters to writers. Sometimes they are long. That’s gonna have to be ok right now.
My Top 5 Books of 2021: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
My top 5 favorite reads of 2021 celebration starts with Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.
Dear Brian Broome
A Love Letter for Punch Me Up to The Gods
All The King’s Horses
Reflections on Tayari Jones’ An American Marriage
by Tahirah J. Walker
Listening Time: Robyn Crawford’s A Song for You
I’m so thankful for Robyn Crawford’s book.
Aunties Are Also A Parliament
A thank you to all the aunties – through the transitions, ups and downs, we love you.
Karena Dorsey takes the memoir genre by winter storm.
Through her writing she shares her experiences of growing up in a wild and unsettling environment at home and shares her journey to engage thought and spark a collective intention to do better than what has been. Her first book, a memoir, titled Wild Flowers, Orchards, and Men who pluck them will be published in the Winter of 2021 following a release of fiction, non-fiction and self help literature.
Journey (Companion)
Faster, faster Bo faster! Gotta kep up That girl gonna run us ragged Gotta kep up So pretty in that
Journey
Journey Wading through the water, her toe kicked the jagged rocks nestled in its bed. She looked down to see
Pittsburgh Has Helpers
We recognize that now is an incredibly difficult time for many operating under this economy, and that college students in particular may be struggling with food, clothing, or other basic needs resources.
Rooting for Imam Salim
It isn’t such a hard thing when people ask me what I did for Father’s Day. There are people I
Dear Brian Broome
Book launch question was if I thought Brian Broome was funny. I wish I had seven minutes to say all of this and more. I didn’t but I write soooo I wrote it.
A Birthday Celebration for ***Them***? Yes!
“Why she do this?” I listened to those words roll off my husband’s lips. He was relaying a question he
Grief Paints, Too
My mom’s birthday. My dad’s death and me somewhere in between remembering.