Poetry

Another Black man is killed, and I am filled with anger.

Not sadness.

Not disgust.

Anger.

Another Black man is killed and it is

Evergreen.

I do not care what Yebba says

It cannot be this hard in heaven.

Flesh necessitates fuel.

I have read poems for women in rage,

and now I am writing one.

Another Black man is killed and I am reminded

Black men resurrect

in their Easter Sunday

of hashtags,

Publicly dissected.

(Dissonance)

Black womxn are quietly vivisected

Privately mourned

Silently buried

burned

or, abandoned as

desiccated carcasses,

the vultures feast.

Another Black man is killed…

Race in America

The word slave comes from the medieval Latin word sclavus and was originally used to describe people of Slavic ethnicity. ‘Slav’ was a catch-all term for Indo-European migrants who shared a common language root. ‘Slav’ originally meant ‘word’ and indicated many different tribes who could understand each other’s words.

Prior to the late 13th century, ‘slav’ had no negative connotation, it simply described a language group, like ‘Hispanic’. The people were also called sporoi — a Greek word that references scattering grain to the wind. Sporoi encompassed people from the Caucasus mountains, modern day-eastern Europe, and even modern-day Britain and…

Food

A beginner's guide to single malt scotch

Apparently, whiskey is Irish and whisky is Scottish. I learned that from a very sexy in a hot-for-teacher way grad student from Glasgow. If you haven’t read my article Navigating Scotland as a First Time International Traveler*, feel free to check it out now. I’ll wait.

Okay, so as you now know, one of the best things about Scotland is that it’s the home of single malt scotch. Just as true champagne can only be made in France, true scotch can only be made in Scotland. …

Travel

And what to skip

If you’ve been following my adventures in Scotland series, you already know that my first international voyage taught me three things: Heathrow is the seventh circle of hell, it’s whisky, not whiskey, and everything tastes better in Scotland.

I could write an entire book on my undying love affair with Scottish food. For now, I’ll focus on the three things I really wish we could get in the United States.

Food in Scotland is generally much better quality than food in the States. I am told that this is because of EU regulations on produce and…

Travel

Planes, trains, and automobiles

When God first told me to go to Scotland, I knew exactly two things about the country: scotch and Highland romance novels. While that’s not a bad foundation for a relationship with a person, it’s probably less than ideal for visiting a foreign country. This was my first experience with international travel, and I was going to a cold and rainy land I knew nothing about.

Navigating Scotland was an adventure complete with breathtaking views and rom-com worthy foibles. Consider this one part cautionary tale, one part how-I-spent-my-winter-vacation.

My flight plan was… unconventional. Traveling on a…

Race in America

My best friend says I’m a glass-half-empty type of person. I prefer to think of myself as a realist, if a bit cynical. Yesterday, Derek Chauvin, the man who murdered George Floyd in broad daylight on a public street with dozens of onlookers, was found guilty on all counts.

Most people are celebrating this, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. What does this verdict change?

And I don’t mean that in the what-does-this-change-in-the-great-scheme-of-things-because-we-have-a-shitty-criminal-justice-system way, although that is a valid question I’ll get into later in this article.

I mean, how does the emotional impact of this verdict…

Writing

Black or black? And yes, it matters.

Six years before I was born, James Baldwin gave a speech at UC Berkely about what it means to be a Black writer.

“What a writer is obliged to some point to realize is that he is involved in a language which he has to change. For example, for a black writer, especially in this country, to be born into the English language is to realize the assumptions of the language, the assumptions by which the language operates, are his enemy.”

The English language, at its default setting, is inherently racist. It is…

Economics

Last week, the United States Senate passed a 1.9 trillion dollar Covid-19 relief package that includes modest cash payments for American families and massive asset purchases for banks — proving once again where our national priorities lie.

Historically speaking, the United States has a track record of doing what it takes to keep the uber-rich happy while generally screwing over everyone else. That’s why in 2018 Congress solidified and expanded the tax exemption for being a private jet owner. It’s why in 2008, banks got bailed out by the government while homeowners got put out in the streets.

It’s why…