122 Search results for "mistakes"

Trauma doesn’t turn you into a bad person
I say a lot of shit. Before COVID, before my mother-in-law relapsed, before my brother announced his secret baby and before the fall out, before my god sister’s cancer diagnosis, I said that if one more traumatic event happened to me after my mother’s own cancer became untreatable earlier this year, I would fall apart. […]
How I used my names as a vehicle for my non-binary identity exploration
by JAO I realized I am non-binary my second year of undergrad. One morning, as I was getting ready for class, I looked in the mirror like I had tons of times before. And for whatever reason, on that day, I no longer saw a girl. I wasn’t sure what or who I was seeing, […]
Scarcity and shame are symptoms of capitalism
Every day I’m resentful of capitalism. And when I say capitalism, I don’t mean the binary, often well-meaning but willfully simplistic response of “Well, you have an iphone don’t you?” (I do not, but that’s besides the point). I mean the ways capitalism and its siblings (environmental and medical racism, antiBlackness and state sanctioned violence) […]
The Obamas keep attacking “cancel culture” because they are scared of being held accountable
By Marcus Board A few days ago, my feed, TL and story were covered with the Obama’s at their Foundation Summit in Chicago. Michelle went viral for saying that being a good person is the best way to show racists the error of their ways. Meanwhile, Barack lectured young people that activism is not the […]
Prison abolition is more than a lofty theoretical. It’s also unpretty, everyday practices of resisting state policing
The man grabs her arm tightly and presses her against the gate, and in someone’s fantasy this, without context, might have been erotic. I want it to be—for her sake, I’d say if you asked—but I also want it for mine. I do not want to personally get involved in a violent dispute between strangers, […]
LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately vulnerable to homelessness and survival sex work
by Maximillian Matthews This essay contains discussions of racialized sexual violence and mentions r/pe “There is probably no greater (or more misleading) body of sexual myths in the world today than those which proliferated around the figure of the American Negro. This means that he is penalized for the guilty imagination of the white people […]
I don’t know what my grief looks like outside of social pressures to perform it in acceptable ways
My heroes are never buried when they die, at least not at first. As soon as I hear the news, I borrow their face from their still chilling body to post alongside a hastily written message of grief and well-wishes. I want to be the earliest to write about their loss, for everyone to see […]
Mental Health Awareness Month shouldn’t be the only time I can talk openly about my mental health
Editor’s Note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month and National Masturbation Month. This is also the month that we celebrate Mother’s Day. At BYP, we will be exploring these topics alongside the theme of Imagination and the Arts, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. By […]
Intergenerational trauma is gendered, and other life lessons from my Black mother & sister
Editor’s Note: April is Black Women’s History Month. Throughout this month, Black Youth Project is celebrating Black women. This month is also National Minority Health Month, Autism Awareness Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them.
Defending “Nipsey Hussle’s widow” and other hollow gestures for Black women
Editor’s Note: April is Black Women’s History Month. Throughout this month, Black Youth Project is celebrating Black women. This month is also National Minority Health Month, Autism Awareness Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. As a New Yorker […]
In a world where my parents let me be as free as Dwyane Wade & Gabrielle Union let Zaya
How beautiful if nothing more than to watch her sashay down the catwalk. How beautiful to hear her parents cheering for this young girl as she strikes a pose, then another, then another—each more fierce than the last. I don’t even begrudge the black fanny pack strapped over her shoulder like the worst damn fashion […]
Navigating Christmas as a sexual assault survivor brought up in the Catholic church
by Tracey Onyenacho This essay discusses sexual violence, including molestation. Growing up in a Black and immigrant household, Catholicism has always reigned supreme. Forced assimilation into a country that is not your own makes holding onto Christian traditions feel like a blanket of safety in a new environment. Religious traditions and practices in my house […]