I posted a question on Instagram using the new questions feature, asking people to complete the sentence “Love is-” The few responses that I got were from friends in my close circle, saying that it was just a word, fleeting and unsustainable. I got a couple of replies from friends…

To start off, this title is kind of a lie. I’ve spent the past 12 months in a teaching residency, combing grad school, constant professional development, and real-life experience. My teaching residency is different than most because not only did I spend the mornings in a classroom with a mentor…

This weekend I sat around with my family eating breakfast sandwiches from the bodega and laughing about life. We were gathered to talk about final wishes and life insurance plans- the untimely death of a family friend lit us with urgency to make sure we were all on the same…

One of the wildest justifications that I heard for Adele’s winning over Beyoncé for Album of the Year at this year’s Grammy’s came from Carlos Santana. He said: “With all respect to our sister Beyoncé, Beyoncé is very beautiful to look at and it’s more like modeling kind of music…

Over a year ago I wrote a poem in which I have the stanza: But we know the truth, that we contain the secrets of the Universe. That we have the power to arrange and rearrange the constellations to fit our order. That we come from the women who birthed…

What gets lost when hood style is co-opted for Instagram likes — Walking into a beauty supply store in the hood is like walking into a parallel universe. Cheap, bright lipsticks grab your eye immediately. Hair hangs from the ceiling. There is an abundance of dyes, cheap gold jewelry, and every hair accessory known to man. It is a familiar home to…

Last week one of my bosses at my summer internship tasked me with finding out graduation rates of various New York City high schools in order to compare them to the schools that they (an art organization) typically work to get their kids into. While searching, I constantly came across…

Representations of my experiences: NOT FOUND — This weekend I sat down like many millenials to watch the marathon of Disney Channel original movies and reminisce on my childhood. Breaks for naps and a fiasco in a bar not included, I watched many of the movies on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, forgetting to watch Monday’s movies until…