love is deeper than a simple four letter word love is t.i.m.e love is when anxious love is when unknown filling dark spaces others run away from love is swimming upstream crashing recklessly together sometimes hands clenched sometimes at a distance. love is a moment in front of fear not behind a curtain unrevealed love is a heartbeat two throbs slowly and fast separately at once guiding lovers back home

an inward journey into masculinity and what it means to be a man. toxic masculinity and why he feels superior. toxic masculinity is about power and exerting that power over other men and especially women. weakness by any measure is unacceptable as it goes against what it means to be a man. men can’t be emotional or…

umoja. kujichagulia. ujima. ujamaa. kuumba. nia. imani. all words that might make you feel a bit uncomfortable because you can’t pronounce them. words you may have heard but never really understood. words that make you laugh and dismiss because you’ve never had to learn about them. but for those of…

who are told they have to choose one side of their identity. race in this country has always been a sensitive topic to discuss. it’s so heated because we don’t talk about it. we pretend we will learn how to engage in conversation somehow. somewhere. through osmosis. and we wonder…

Purpose. Identity. Resilience. Success. The first time anyone ever called me a nigga was the first day of middle school. There I was, walking in between the Lower School and the Gymnasium. I don’t recall what I was doing or why but I do remember the unsolicited words from an…

installment one in iii parts (originally posted @blackkingswrite on instagram) i. the lines in my palms are the hieroglyphic backs of those that worked from can’t see to can’t see ii. they see me and wonder is this one criminal or is this one not like them i sense their fear my codeswitch engages their bodies sigh in relief iii. not the spook by the door but the invisible man’s son i am the darker brother

(originally posted @blackkingswrite on instagram) i. understand the hyphen between african and american is the ship that links you to two lands. ii. they may have tried to make us adjectives but it’s on us to define and re-define who we are and what being black means. iii. those on…

that i never knew i had. i never really liked halloween. as a kid in elementary school everyone but us dressed up and went trick-or-treating. we were told not to honor ghouls and goblins. it wasn’t until 5th grade when i pushed the envelope. i threw on my nice clothes…

lasts longer than expected. soon. you or i will go. and part of me wants to give you the last curtain. you deserve the grace. the applause. the sincerity. but beneath my chivalrous heart breathes a red aching that wants to depart without closure. without reason. without you. but. we…