america
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Zwarte Piet and My Run-In With Blackface
In November 2006, my band was in the midst of a European tour. Though we loved exploring unfamiliar cities, we ached for the comforts of home as the holidays approached. None of us were from the same place—we were born in cities spreading from New York to Anchorage, but we shared an understanding of what…
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I Used to Want to Drive Across America. Ya Know, See Some America and Shit. I Have Three Kids Now. *CENSOR* That.
There was a time when nothing sounded more romantic to me (in the fun and adventure sense of the word) than driving across America and seeing all that she had to offer. I grew up as an Army brat overseas in Europe, so I’ve been to most of the European countries that were a simple…
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Botham Jean, Amber Guyger and the Delusion of Forgiveness
It was described as “stunning,” “rare,” and “inspirational”: Brandt Jean, the younger brother of Botham Jean, killed last year at the hands of a Dallas police officer who mistakenly walked into his apartment, asking his brother’s killer if he could hug her. “I love you as a person,” Jean, who had been delivering his victim…
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Poor People Are Already Financially Literate. They Just Need More Money
I don’t remember when exactly I first realized there was such a thing as class. I think I might have been 10 or 11, but I’m not certain. But even before I possessed the language to articulate class distinctions, I understood them. I knew where my family existed on that spectrum. I knew what where…
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An Army Soldier Is Being Called a Hero for Saving Children During the El Paso Shooting. He Just Wants to Forget What Happened
An army private is being heralded as a hero for his role in saving kids caught in the mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, this weekend. Still, his recollection of the shooting highlights the deep trauma gun and police violence have left on this country. In interviews with multiple outlets, Army…
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Where Would You Like Us to Go Back To, Mr. President?
When I came to this country, America stood as a nation of hope to young children in forgotten and faraway lands. It once welcomed children like myself—and children like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—with open arms. That is why it was so incredibly painful to see a U.S. president goad his supporters in the racist, xenophobic…
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Poll Finds Americans Fearful Heated Rhetoric Will Fan Flames of Violence
A majority of Americans fear all the racist and otherwise offensive rah rah being spewed in the name of public discourse lately will lead to outright violence, and that it needs to stop. That’s the finding of a new Pew Research Center poll in which some three-quarters of all Americans (73 percent)—Democrats and Republicans, alike—said…
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Yeah, Donald Trump’s a Racist…and So Was Every Other American President
Remember that scene in literally every superhero origin story, when the superhero person did some super shit in public for the first time, and most people who witnessed it were like, “Whoa!!! That was some super shit! Who knew we had super people here?” (And then a few are like, “Well actually what just happened…
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They Don’t Want to Preserve Life. They Just Want to Punish Women and Enact Pain
Last weekend, I was invited to a brunch hosted by Ebele Okobi, who is Facebook’s Head of Public Policy, Africa, and was my de facto tour guide and event planner during my week abroad. There were nine of us there—an African diasporic reunion of black people scattered throughout the globe but settled in London. Among…