“When I’m older, I’m going to change my name.” My Dora-the-Explorer bob bounced up and down as I exclaimed my plans to my mom. She looked down at my eager face, and asked me “why would you want to do that?” I was tired of watching teachers squint their eyes and furrow their brows as […]
Amazon and Labor Relations
I met with a friend recently at the University of Michigan. Because she attends the art school there and I attend a small liberal arts college, we quickly came to the topic of jobs and employment prospects after graduation, (which we know are far from promising). Both of us, we noticed, are preparing for years […]
Israel Apartheid Week Seems To Be About Everything But Palestine
Editor’s Note: As someone of both Middle-Eastern and Ashkenazi descent, the conflict between Palestine and Israel has long felt like a personal one. At extended family gatherings discussion of the conflict is absent, an ideological ceasefire of sorts. Yet more private conversations with my maternal cousin who lived in Gaza and with my paternal cousins who […]
Israel is Not an Inclusive Paradise
Editor’s Note: Every Spring while I was growing up, my father and his sisters would invite our family friend Ofra to Passover. Ofra was the only person at the table who spoke Hebrew, so she could lead us in “Dayenu” and read specific portions of the Haggadah. She was also the only Israeli. Every year, […]
the gray area. (CONTENT WARNING)
“We are beautiful, but we are ugly too” —Langston Hughes CONTENT WARNING: sexual assault and harassment, racism, misogyny, mental health It doesn’t matter what his name is. This piece […]
On Grief, Whatever That Means
Authors Note: These are my personal thoughts on grief, whatever that means. I thought I would share my process and how I continue to grieve (and grow) almost four years after a very significant loss. The way I most confront my grief is through writing. I write poems, short stories, long stories, anything to distract […]