14 Search results for "sustenance"

By DJ Ferguson My mother, no stranger to emotional blackmail, had no hesitation in using it on behalf of her god in an attempt to reconvert me. “Don’t you think God (Yahweh) ever mourns?” she asked, hoping to get me to feel sorry for the possessive West Asian shepherd god whom I no longer worship. […]

My mom apologizes to me and I’m glad she does. Mostly for small things, but sometimes for big things too. Recently, she apologized for her fatphobia towards me and how damaging it was to me growing up. I was appreciative. I thanked her.  Not long after that apology, she made no less than three fatphobic […]

This essay discusses child abuse, sexual violence, addiction, and extreme weight loss I tell him about my recent trip up to Philly and what happened on the way back. Our Uber driver overheard a conversation between myself, a child of the Carolinas, and my friend, the most Texas Texan I know, in which she told […]

I’m wondering what words there are in existence that could be used to accurately describe Black Panther. Stunning, breathtaking, and majestic come close. This film stands firmly in a class all its own. It is not perfect (and I have many feelings about it, but you won’t find any spoilers here), but it is still […]

Call-out culture has gotten a lot of criticism, but call-outs retain political utility. When policymakers who have many lives entrusted to them, experience quick, broad and furious criticism they sometimes adjust their plans. They sometimes do the right thing. Puerto Rico is a prime example. Puerto Rican government officials said they were given no notice […]

The starving collegian trope is often conjured to portray how intellectually curious, struggling young adults often do without materially. Depending on who tells the story, sustained hunger can seem like an academic rite of passage. However, the lived reality of students who experience the stresses of collegiate life and food insecurity can be more painful. […]

Arguing for improved sustenance options in America seems less than first-world. However food and water, the very substances that fuel us, remain reproductive and environmental justice issues. Food and water quality matter because they affect people as a whole, but especially people of color and those in the socio-economic margins. The specific instances vary. Environmental […]

I am a non-voter who has the audacity to still be upset that my people are dying. I have been told innumerable times that I am not supposed to be allowed this. “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain” is perhaps the most common non-voter shaming refrain I’ve heard, right up there with “your ancestors […]

Social movements over the years have taught us that politeness and respectabiility rarely result in lasting social change. When 15-year-old Claudette Colvin first resisted public bus segregation in Alabama on March 2, 1955, she did so knowing that she’d be classified as unruly, dangerous, and a threat to the very fabric of American society. Nine […]

Last week, mainstream news outlets erupted with stories about student protests at the University of Missouri. The University was founded in 1839 but didn’t admit Black students until 1950 when the University was “fully integrated.” Today, the roughly 35,000 students have found themselves at the center of a major push for cultural and administrative change […]

Whether or not Beyonce can call herself a feminist has been the topic that has captured most of the attention to Beyonce’s latest work. While interesting, I am more compelled by the threads of self-love and resistance laced throughout the album. My personal favorite moment of self-love and resistance resides in the irresistible quip from […]

Given the kind of stuff that I cover here, sometimes certain blogs are obligatory. This is one of them. A few weeks ago, I read an article about Toni Morrison, who has begun promoting her latest novel, Home, available to readers next month. As usual, I found Morrison’s words to be absurdly phenomenal and inspiring. I […]