They got down, Ramsey and Safiya, like their fathers had before them. They weren’t stars, but they were hood-revered (inasmuch as such status is achievable). In their early twenties, after Safiya got back from college in Vermont and Ramsey finished his second bid, they’d stalk the streets together, passing liquor stores and chicken shacks, and [...]
Archive for March, 2009
They Got Down, Ramsey and Safiya.
Posted in Fiction, tagged AIDS, HIV, romance on March 31, 2009 | 3 Comments »
A Word Against Realism of Place.
Posted in Uncategorized on March 27, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I don’t drive.
This admission used to cause me a great deal of chagrin, especially during my early 20s, when everyone was zipping up and down freeways in their toy cars, visiting high school and college buddies at their varied new locations and seeing parts of the country to which I might never be privy. “Driving [...]
Constants for the Wanderer: Mute Math.
Posted in Faith, Nonfiction, tagged Adam LaClave, christian spoken word, Club of the Sons, Darren King, dcTalk, Earthsuit, greg hill, Jennifer Knapp, Kevin Max, Leigh Nash, Mute Math, Nichole Nordeman, Paul Meany, roy mitchell-cardenas, Sixpence None the Richer on March 25, 2009 | 12 Comments »
I first saw Mute Math in concert at The Knitting Factory, not long after I moved to New York. I was so excited, I think I might have completely lamed out and worn a band t-shirt. I knew there was a distinct possibility that I’d be the only Black person there and I didn’t care. [...]
The Incomparable Jessie Redmon Fauset.
Posted in Nonfiction, tagged intraracism, Jessie Redmon Fauset, passing on March 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I’m fairly certain that I first encountered the work of Jessie Redmon Fauset in early high school. Someone had bought me an anthology called Revolutionary Tales: African American Women’s Short Stories, from the First Story to the Present. Her short story, “Emmy,” was nestled somewhere between the writings of Pauline E. Hopkins and Ann Petry [...]
Neo-Elizabethan Musings.
Posted in Fiction, tagged Elizabethan literature, intra-racism, Shakespeare on March 16, 2009 | 2 Comments »
According to Gmail, I started writing this in December of 2007. I had this (fairly ambitious) idea to write an Elizabethan drama about intra-racism/colorism. This was the beginning. The Piner is the narrator. The heroine is Melaina, a name of Greek origin, which actually means dark or black. Saffronia is her romantic rival. I got [...]
Parisienne Top Ten (Plus One).
Posted in Nonfiction, tagged Paris on March 6, 2009 | 4 Comments »
(in no particular order):
1. When you stop to take pictures of buildings and monuments, Parisian passersby actually halt, on either side of your shot, until they see you lower your camera, content with your photo. They’re so respectful of their own culture and your admiration of it that they pause for you. Those pauses resulted [...]
Purple Haze.
Posted in Nonfiction, tagged Paris on March 5, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I’m back. I have a lot to write, but for those who want an initial response, some encapsulation of what it was like and how I felt, I have only one word that would make any sense: transformative.
Paris was transformative.
Here are a few pics to hold you over until I process everything and recapture my [...]
