Alone as a child tucked in at night, Mary Annette Pember had visions. “Strings of lights, rather like phosphorescent snakes,” she writes, would float along the ceiling of her bedroom, turning and twisting in the dark. When she asked what the strange lights could be, her mother, an Ojibwe from northern Wisconsin, urged her not … Read more
From the outset, Black bookstores have been centers of not only cultural exchange and knowledge but also protest and liberation. When David Ruggles opened what is recognized as the first Black bookstore, in 1834, at 67 Lispenard Street in Lower Manhattan, he used his inventory of books, pamphlets and stationery — as well as the … Read more
Situations where you exhibited cruelty? I don’t know if it would be cruelty, but anger, rage, certain desires that would have never exhibited in my brother. There was a moment when I was 15 — I’ve been trying to articulate this for so long, and your question is putting me down the slippery slope. I’ve … Read more
Dear readers, Anyone who is bad at meditating will be familiar with the tension that obtains when you try to force serenity. Nothing could be more aggravating than being told to relax — especially when you’re issuing the order yourself. In lieu of attempting to clear my head through more direct means, I’ve been gravitating … Read more
