Just this week, I learned that Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote her famous novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin because of something her sister said in a letter she had written to her. Her words were, “If I could use my pen as you can, I would write something that would make this whole nation feel what an… Read More Using Her Pen
“I’m tired of hearing people say, all lives matter.” “Well, they do.” “I’m not saying that they don’t. All I’m saying is that when people say that they are downplaying the Black Lives Matter Movement.” “Black Lives Matter Movement sounds militant.” “It isn’t. It’s a cry for justice, a cry to end the systemic racism… Read More Stand Up
“I can’t breathe” these haunting words of George Floyd have set off a chain of events in the reckoning of race relations in America. One of these events is today’s announcement that Quaker Oats is replacing the Jemima brand with a new name and image in order “to make progress toward racial equality.” According to… Read More Retiring Aunt Jemima
I was having lunch with my cousin, Tia. We hadn’t seen each other for a while so there was a lot of catching up to do. She was working at an advertising company while I was in my third year at university. I was studying Sociology. She was engaged to a Nigerian man she met… Read More Drusilla’s Story
Their lives don’t matter. Their cries fall on deaf ears. They can’t breathe. They suffocate. They die. Their lives don’t matter. But that’s not true. Their lives do matter. That’s why we protest. That’s why we march. Enough is enough. It’s time for change. It’s time for action. It’s time for justice. It’s time to… Read More It’s Time
I’m engaged to James, an older and extremely handsome man. We met at a party thrown by a couple of Yale students. I was there alone but he was with a date but by the end of the night, we both knew we wanted to be together. When I left to get a taxi,… Read More Our Skin
I’m a Ethiopian Jewish woman living in Israel but life here is terrible for people like me. We are not welcomed in the Jewish community because of our skin color and we are accused of being “fake Jews”. My husband is a white Israeli Jew. We met when he came to Gondar, a northern town… Read More Zala’s Story
She picked the cotton, the sweat pouring down her dark, leathery face. She worked from sunrise to sunset, same as the men. The overseer saw to that. Slaves failing to do their tasks were flogged. Her back was badly mangled from a whipping. As she worked, she dreamed of the Elysian home she would soon… Read More Her Dream
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed – 8:36 I’s in chains fo tryin’ to run away. I’s a human being. I shoulda bin free not nobody’s slave. Dey treats us worst than dem animals. When dey brought us here to this here plantation, dey had chains round our necks… Read More Freedom for Joe
I see the fear on her face as we walk towards each other. It’s broad daylight. I’m just walking down the sidewalk, minding my own business but she looks at me as if I was going to attack her at any minute. She walks faster and clutches her handbag tightly. Maybe she thinks I’m going… Read More My Reality
Notes to Women 