give more than you take.live out loud and unafraid.dream by night.create by day. self-love is the key to happiness. happiness is the key to joy. joy is the secret to survival. emotions are never invalid.you have the right to be exactly who you are. Apologize when it’s the right thing to do–not when it’s what you were…
An I Love You Wrapped in Fear
Church was ending. The benediction had been given, the closing song was sung and people were beginning to gather. I was doling out the requisite hugs and pleasantries when he came running to me. The moment was all too familiar. But something about that day was different. There was a seriousness to him that hadn’t…
We Shall Overcome
Last night when I tried to sleep, I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop crying, which makes sleep difficult. When I finally drifted off to sleep I was jolted awake by what I thought were gunshots. I was literally gasping for air trying to escape. Every time this happens I get mad. We cry, we hold vigils,…
What we deserve
I’ve attached the link to the letter I wrote to the daily gamecock about why USC 2020Vision is necessary. This was published the day of the protest. What we deserve
Good lord willing and the creek don’t rise: how to survive a flood when you never learned to swim
Good lord willing and the creek don’t rise. It’s an old saying that means I will go where I said I would or do what I agreed to do, barring the unthinkable. Sometimes folks just say good Lord willing. In South Carolina, the creek quite literally rose and life was put on pause. In the…
I was raised respectably
I wrote this for a class assignment and shared it with my folks. It was well-received, so I am sharing it here with you all! “We would never allow Negroes to starve, to grow bitter, and to die in ghettos all over the country if we were not driven by some nameless fear that has nothing to…
Who needs a filter when we look this good? These are just a few of the AMAZING people I met at the YP4 Regional Training and Vote Summit I attended last weekend. They are some of the most incredible people I’ve ever met. So much passion and so much determination. These people are going to…
The images I can’t forget: Part Two
When Eric Garner’s wife, Esaw, was asked if she would forgive the cops who killed her husband, her response was “Hell no.” I looked up unsure If I had her correctly, but she continued. “The time for remorse would’ve been the time when my husband was begging to breathe… when he was screaming 11 times that he couldn’t…
“Burn this B**** Down:” A year in the trenches and the images I can’t seem to forget.
Ferguson.McKinney. Charleston. (Twice) Staten Island. Cleveland. Waller County Jail. Rikers Island Jail. A year ago, Michael Brown lost his life at the hands of a police officer. A year ago we all vowed to not forget his name. A year ago we pledged ourselves to fighting the good fight and calling out injustice when we see it….
#justiceforjonathanferrell justice takes no breaks. We will not forget. We will not back down. We will fight until there are no more names, no more battles, and no more injustice.
My Blackness Does Not Wash Off At Night 