When Ruby Jones Was Here

Excerpted from The Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook, coming in August from Belt Publishing. By Lakisha Dumas When Ruby Jones was here, Detroit was [...]

2017-07-10T16:46:09-04:00July 10, 2017|

The Urban Rural

When I have written about Roseland it is usually about tragedy and trauma as the result of generations of neglect. When I tell white people where I live, their response always begins with a recollection

2017-09-05T11:28:20-04:00June 27, 2017|

Our Bungalow on Braile

More than anything, my dad talks about the trees. How branches reached up and intertwined over the street to block out the sun. Turned the street into a tunnel. You couldn’t see the sky. Same thing on every block he and his four younger brothers would have walked. Trees taller than all the Warrendale bungalows.

2017-06-22T12:42:32-04:00June 22, 2017|

Call for Submissions: The Columbus Anthology!

Although Columbus is the capital city of the state of Ohio, it does not live in the national imagination the way older Ohio cities, such as Cincinnati and Cleveland, do. They have secured a distinct cultural presence for themselves, while Columbus is still becoming - and rapidly.

2017-07-19T10:56:19-04:00June 5, 2017|

Buffalo, New York’s Midwest Identity

Buffalo, NY isn't always considered to be part of the Midwest, but in Belt Publishing's How To Speak Midwestern, author Edward McClelland defines the area as the land west of Exit 41 on the New York State Thruway, east of the Missouri River, and north of the Ohio River.

2017-05-23T09:13:46-04:00May 23, 2017|

Judge A Book By Its Cover

Let me be honest. I judge books by their covers. I mean, not entirely — it’s never stopped me from reading a good book — but it has tipped me over the edge and led me to buy a book I was on the fence about, or made my decision easier when I had to choose between two books.

2017-05-18T09:29:06-04:00May 18, 2017|