45 Search results for "kindness"

“I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.” — Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire Be nice to people you don’t know. Seriously. I know it sounds a little bit corny (because talking about emotion has become corny in our society), but I get personally annoyed when people single handedly deny the human experience of […]

By Jordie Davies This holiday season, many of us will return home to our families, who, even though they love us very much and we love them, may hold different political beliefs. It won’t be easy. The current political moment is an especially tough one if you or your loved ones voted for different presidential […]

By Donnie Moreland It was no later than 6:23 am, on September 19th, when Officer Jacob Dochavney discovered the two bodies in the Tacoma River. He waited to call it in. He was three days from his two week vacation he’d been hollering about since February. He was supposed to be going to Las Vegas […]

The day I thought that Chadwick Boseman was James Brown, he lit up the screen with his rosewood colored skin and small gap. He was not the real James Brown except that he was, for over two hours he was James Brown. “Get On Up” was the first time I’d seen Chadwick’s acting skills, but […]

Whether we want to admit it or not, there’s a superficial boundary between professionalism and unprofessionalism that undergirds constant productivity, capital and unhealthy notions of self worth. This boundary exists to reinforce white supremacy, carcerality, punishment, policing and surveillance. The structures that legitimize this faux boundary do so in service of themselves always. All the […]

by Jenn M. Jackson My sixty-eight year old mother has been an unpaid, unofficial caretaker for my grandmother for at least twenty years. She was a social worker for more than three decades. Now, she also works for free as an administrative assistant at church. After delivering fresh produce and cooked meals to my elderly […]

by Amanda F. John  This essay contains discussions of alcoholism and self-harm  Anyone with access to an amazon prime account has likely come across what I like to call the golden scam. What is this fortuitous product you ask? Well, it’s a watch, ironically, it is often made with silver sterling—essentially putting an end to […]

by Donnie Moreland  This essay discusses body dysmorphia, self-harm ideation, and fatphobia.  I remember wanting to drop fire in my belly. Wanting to light a match, open my mouth and drop it in to burn the fat. This was one of the engrossing illusions I obsessed about, from age thirteen until an age very much […]

by Kui Mwai Full bodied, multilayered, complex Black mother-daughter relationships are rarely captured on screen. It wasn’t until I watched Stella Meghie’s “The Photograph” that I realized just how much I was craving to see something akin to my mother and I’s relationship on film.  “The Photograph” invites its viewers into characters Mae (Issa Rae) […]

by Daniel M. Johnson Lesson 1: Origins 1964-65 was a volatile time for Betty Shabazz. The conclusion of the winter saw her gazing at her husband’s corpse, riddled with bullets, leaving her to care for her four, soon to be six, daughters. Just into her 30s, she moved to Mount Vernon, NY to continue her […]

Kui Mwai On October 12, Howard students awoke to a 6 AM email from the university’s administration with a special announcement. Controversial rap legend Kanye West would be performing his infamous Sunday Service, a choral performance of his gospel-infused discography, in the Yard that very morning, in accompaniment with the many celebrities that perform during […]

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 […]