Can the attempt to get paid by men who disappointed me deliver something bigger than healing? — Days after my 32nd birthday, I sat hunched over my computer typing feverishly into oblivion as the sky darkened outside. It was Memorial Day weekend and instead of being at someone’s barbecue drunkenly two-stepping to Earth, Wind & Fire I was drafting invoices — two invoices — to two men…

In a ZORA exclusive with the author, we explore power, sex, and religion against the backdrop of Lagos — There are some novels that stay with you, imparting a lasting message and leaving an intangible impact. Black Sunday, a debut novel from author Tola Rotimi Abraham, is one of them. In Black Sunday, Tola Rotimi Abraham, an Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate, weaves a profound narrative about a Nigerian family…

Though I moved away from the church, cooking on Sundays keeps me connected to my roots — As a child growing up in the South, I knew that Sunday was a holy and reverent day set aside from all the rest. Each one began the same: stirring from a deep sleep early in the morning, when the faintest light from sunrise was starting to appear; showering and…

A woman mourns the memory of a close friend who passed unexpectedly — Early last fall, when the leaves began to change colors, I started to feel like I was drifting into the first waves of depression. It was an acute feeling, a knowing, made only worse by sitting still at home every day, pondering my thoughts. And so I bought a ticket…

My life changed to a hue I’d never seen before or felt on my skin on August 30, 2017. Only, I was oblivious to how it was set to change thousands of miles away in Bogota, Colombia. …

“As a Black solo traveler turned travel writer, I’ve learned that travel as escapism is dangerous in its naiveté” —

A decade ago, I had a clear idea of how my life would be now in my 30s. It was something like this: married with a loving husband and a few kids, a beautiful house from which I entertained family and friends at dinner parties, a fulfilling career that satisfied…

When I hear most people talk about their first solo travel experiences, there’s a twinkle in their eyes. Their voices take on a sing-song melody and mimic audible poetry. They share about how they felt pulled to explore the world all on their own, how they booked that trip despite…

One of the first things I learned as a bright-eyed, enthusiastic cub reporter in Journalism school at 19-years-old is that you don’t write from ego. You write to make a difference, to make other people think, to raise awareness, to tell the stories of others. …