I began writing on Substack last June when my life felt at an all-time low. My first subscribers were mostly people I knew in real life and online. Some of my first subscribers have supported my work for the past 20 years or more, while others are recent friends. “The Water Spirits Will Carry Us,” …
People often ask me why I am on a quest to learn to swim, dive, and map the wreckage of slave ships to honor my ancestors. Why am I so drawn to the ocean? Is it a grave or a place of liberation? I explored those questions and more in a speech I made as …
You learn who you are in Mexico by knowing who you are not. “Where are you from?” the cab driver asks as you slide into the backseat of the pine-fresh taxi. Faux leather seats gleam in the brightness of the midday sun. He turns down the volume of the talk radio program he was listening …
I went to Mexico City to search for Frida Kahlo.
Frida is everywhere in Mexico. The famed Mexican painter and feminist icon’s image is on the 500 peso, t-shirts, journals, handbags, and the compact mirror I carry in my purse. Knitted unibrow and braided black hair framed with flowers, Frida’s face graces street art and murals worldwide.
“You’re doing great,” Natalie, the swim instructor, said. “Try again.” I took a deep breath and submerged my face in the frigid, pool water. The images of my enslaved African ancestors flushed my memory as I blew a slow blast of bubbles. I gasped for air as I broke the water’s surface and rubbed my …
I came to Mexico to die. I was broken and in 2016 I broke up with America. I felt strangely orphaned in my 40s after the recent deaths of my parents. The well of romantic prospects dried up and I wasn’t willing to swipe right to find a new partner. I built a successful, political …
I had been on suicide watch for two days. Every hour on the hour, a female floor attendant knocked on the metal frame of the bed to make sure I was still alive. The bed smelled of urine and sweat. Faint murmurings of fairies and blood came from the bone-thin woman sleeping on the cot …