by Bri Watts I was full of laughter before I was full of insecurity. “You must laugh a lot. People who laugh a lot have wrinkles around their mouth; they call them laugh lines.” Some guy at a gas station said this to me. That was the beginning. I went home, looked in the mirror, … Continue reading Outside In
By Shawn Garner The taste of meat can definitely be euphoric. I love its juiciness, the way its flavors explode in your mouth, and how meat has a unique taste that other foods cannot quite replicate. However, while I can appreciate meat’s tastiness, I now abstain from eating deceased animals. While that is a bit … Continue reading Meat and Morality: An Essay on Food and Identity
By Brittany Watts-Hendrix I’m good at nearly burning down kitchens, trying to make tofu for the first time cause you can only eat soft food for a week & ramen ain’t vegetarian. I’m good at holding hands and going to bathrooms, and corners in hospitals to cry, after 4 months of therapy and years of … Continue reading Care-Taker
By Brittany Watts-Hendrix An almost-black, brown womyn carries a walking stick, to counterbalance the bag thrown over her shoulder. Her head and neck sit slightly forward, to compensate for weight remaining, directing attention to an almost-brown, white boy sitting. His hands in his lap and feet under his bum. They hold one another with their … Continue reading An Old Roadway 1880, Oil on Canvas George Innes
By A Babydoll It’s fear that does it. Not of death or of hell Fear of not knowing what choice to make. It’s looking at the line between the known and unknown and accepting it must be crossed. It makes men cross, And suffer loss The attempt to cross the line with all their marbles … Continue reading On Trusting God
By Ethan Reardon The medium through which directors choose to represent performance in film is intrinsic in determining how an audience would view that film. It can make or break the reception of a film. In the 2014 film We are Young. We are Strong., most of the scenes are shot in high quality black … Continue reading The Transition of Color in We are Young. We are Strong.
By Brittany Watts-Hendrix I have stopped worrying about how to come to bed, - fully clothed or ugly naked - because you always mock me. Like the time I brought a mirror to you, and you put paint all over it, made funny faces. I rarely laugh when you dare me to take myself less … Continue reading A Bitter Letter to the Love of My Life
By Brittany Watts-Hendrix In a head on collision, there is no going back. You often wonder if it’s too late to go back to the kitchen, where you should’ve learned to chicken head. Then, you consider if chicken head is too specific a reference to blackness, and if the depth of kitchen will go over … Continue reading Mourning a Young Black Girl Lost
By Austin Gadson The perfectly thick, golden Brilla noodles, the richness of the cherry red sauce that is not too thin but just right, combined with the tenderness of carefully chopped ground beef sat before me on the dinner table one night. It's riveting how different cultures take the plain concept of Spaghetti and use … Continue reading The Spaghetti’s Coming Out
