Time flies whether you are having fun or not. My childhood seemed to linger like thick molasses while my twenties flew by like short school days. Before I knew it I was post-30, highly educated, minimally motivated, hundreds of miles away from home but finally at home with myself. When I turned thirty I had […]
the receipts: notes on voting abstention
one. I was defriended on Facebook this summer after a rather dramatic set of exchanges that took place publicly and I recently began to think about that defriending because I wanted to consider how mishearing and misreading were the grounds through which a purportedly critical analysis of my position was given and how that mishearing […]
After the Love Has Gone: Some Thoughts on Radical Community After the Election
If you’re like me you’re probably geeked that the election is finally over. I mean, now I can turn all of my attention back to Parks and Recreation, Scandal, and the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Finally! But, seriously. I’m glad the election and the election coverage is over. Sure, I love a giddy Rachel Maddow […]
Black Women Rock the Vote. Black Men Mock the Vote?: An Election Day Story
The first presidential election in which I was old enough to vote was the 2000 Gore-Bush contest. On Election Day, my mother called me and said simply, “I wanted to make sure you voted today. Your great-grandmother (born in rural North Louisiana in 1903) took great pride in voting. You do the same.” My great-grandmother […]
Mourning and Name Calling!
For some reason this week I have been visited by and/or reminded of people who passed away over my lifetime. Their passing was sense-less so it hurt without boundaries or the protection provided by reason. Sharon was my stepmother and she was shot at my father’s work league basketball game while cheering for him in […]
so far to go: a mix on finding your way
Listen, this isn’t what I expected: adult-onset acne, speech and eating disorders. I would have been struck dumb had you asked me to forecast these grown-up times in my ponytailed private school days. I daydreamed a lot but my imagined life was clipped: a timid choose your own adventure whose stalled plot was as foreseeable […]
The Silliest Girl in Vagina Class, or Why Women’s Studies is Needed Now More Than Ever
In the past four years, I’ve developed a favorite pastime: taking advantage of all services covered by my tuition. To my delight, I discovered that my university offers free sexuality counseling. So after spending an hour with the local version of Dr. Sue, I was invited by my new sex therapist to join a three-week […]
Overcoming A-stigma-tism: (An Affirmation) For Blackgirls Who Have Considered Suicide When Closed Eyes Are Enuf
astigmatism: the inability to see clearly stigma: a mark of disgrace or infamy -ism: a suffix added to terms to reflect a symptom or ideology “Sometimes you can’t see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others.” I see you. You are beautiful and you don’t even know it. I mean it. […]
She’s Not Heavy, She’s Our Sister: Love Notes for Sharmeka
Dear Sharmeka, I’m so sorry for what happened to you. I am sending you love. What happened to you has been a wake up call about the traumas of being multiply marginalized in this world. I hope you get exactly what you need. So much love, Moya Dear Sharmeka, Hey sis. I just wanted to […]
When the Hoodies Are White: Justice4SharmekaMoffitt
On Sunday evening, Sharmeka Moffitt went to a local park in Winnsboro, Louisiana to “walk a mile and run a mile.” Sometime later, she was approached by three men in “white t-shirt hoodies” who doused her with flammable liquid and set her on fire. For good measure, they scrawled “KKK” and “nigger” on her car. […]