Latest Essays

It feels as though it’s easier than ever to identify evil — whether in people, systems, or events. Some things are objectively evil. Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people is an objectively evil act. Jeffrey Epstein was an unquestionably evil man. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party were undoubtedly evil. Evil is part of the […]

There is a pivotal scene in the film Sinners that lays bare an unfathomable crime. Early on, we meet Delta Slim—a masterful blues player and a drunk who, despite his outward joviality, appears both haunted and hunted. It quickly becomes clear what has shaped the complex inner life of this towering man, who seems to […]

So many of us are dealing with the real effects of surviving a period of parenting that has done harm—sometimes irreparable—to our bodies, souls, and psyches. This is not hyperbole. The USA’s Department of Veteran Affairs reports that “about 15% to 43% of girls and 14% to 43% of boys go through at least one […]

There is anecdotal evidence that suggests that as we age, our friendship circles narrow. I don’t know that we need peer-reviewed research to confirm what most of us feel in our bones: the older we get, the fewer people we call friend. When you are in elementary school, everyone in your classroom is referred to […]

Two weeks ago, I sent the email no woman CEO ever wants to find herself typing. The subject line read: “On the verge of mental collapse, raising my hand to ask for help.” I am the Managing Director of a boutique media company that creates content aimed at demystifying stereotypes about African women. For the […]

Followers of my Instagram account know how much I love living in George. I’ve been boasting about this city even when it wasn’t obvious to others why I should take such pride in it. When my family moved here in 2018, George was still a small, gritty pseudo-city with an economy built on industrial activity. […]

When your child is born, they bring with them your hopes, dreams, and fears. The moment that tiny person makes their entrance into the world, all the theoretical proclamations you once made about what you would or wouldn’t do as a parent stop being abstract. It’s suddenly very real. You either put your money where […]

I was born in 1978, part of the final generation that truly remembers what liberty felt like. We drank from garden hoses, ate candy cigarettes designed to groom us into future smokers, and survived on pudding pops and Hot Pockets. Gen X loves to list these nostalgic markers, but they’re not what truly define us. […]