How Do You Identify?

Recently, I heard a new author speak about his book. He casually mentioned he was a Black/Latino writer. As he continued his story, I pieced together that his father was Puerto Rican and his mother was black. I asked him afterward if he identified as black or Latino. He said both. He said as a...

What If?

What If? My two favorite words. They’ve spawned every creation since the dawn of time. The poet asks “what if?” before he puts his pen to paper; the politician asks “what if?” when she’s proposing a new bill; the humanitarian asks “what if?” when he’s imagining a better world; the scientist asks “what if?” when...

No Rest for the Artist

The other day, my daughter came to spend some time with us after a particularly grueling semester of college. “Mom,” she said to me. “I’m just letting you know, for the first few days I’m home, all I’m going to do is sleep, read, and watch Netflix.” And that is exactly what she did. She...