I left my last church for a few reasons. At the top of that list was how uncomfortable I felt with the silence surrounding racial violence and injustice in the United States. I walked into service on a Sunday heavy-hearted following the Charleston church shooting and it was business as usual. The lack of acknowledgement [...]
Multiple women in my life gushed about how I had to read this book. They tripped over their words with both excitement and caution as they warned me that Yaa Gyasi’s confident debut novel wrecked them in the best possible way. For your reference, Goodreads provides a strong summary for the plot of the novel [...]
The word essay derives from the French infinitive “essayer” which means “to try” or “to attempt.” An essay is the attempt to answer a question. In a recent Behind the Book interview, Cinelle Barnes shares her reason for writing is not because she knows, but because she wants to know. The art of writing is [...]
As a member of the MUSA Reading and Writing Book Club, I am exposed to a diverse spectrum of authors and literature. I have learned that stories, as much as we wish they would, do not always translate well from their native language. This was NOT the case with Dany Laferrière's "The World is Moving [...]
I first heard of Joan Didion while excitedly discussing literature with an old colleague and friend. We were stumbling through authors and titles like two toddlers rushing to run before mastering walking. There was an air of joy and enthusiasm as we exchanged stories. Literature that had shifted something inside of us enough to warrant [...]
“Stories are powerful, but gather too many of the words of others in your heart, and they will drown out your own. Remember that.” We are first introduced to Nour, a Syrian-American girl, who is mourning the loss of her father and simultaneously trying to acclimate to her new life in Homs. Although her two [...]
My friend, the same one who surprise purchased me “Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha)” called me to check in on me after I texted her saying I finished. I was at a loss for words. No exaggeration. Forming full sentences was too difficult a task for my brain to effectively manage. I. [...]
In case you were concerned, I'm still writing but not publishing or submitting as much. My therapist says I may be experiencing something reminiscent to Picasso's blue period. I'm giving myself time to explore that in my writing without worrying about how it will be perceived. More on that later. I have also been reading [...]
My father has always told me two things. The first was “Get an education. You can lose your job, material items, friends - you can lose everything. But no one can ever strip you of your education.” Papi graduated high school in the Dominican Republic with honors. He started medical school but couldn’t afford to [...]
It is nearly impossible to ignore the honorable mentions and accolades being handed over to debut novelist Angie Thomas for her YA book “The Hate U Give.” The literary world has been ablaze with praise for the Black Lives Matter inspired narrative. It has spent 49 consecutive weeks as the number one New York Times [...]
