Crossing Over
From "Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology."
Fit to Kill: A Reactionary Existence (Part One)
An excerpt from "Life Sentences: Writings from Inside an American Prison."
Lost and Gain
An excerpt from "Life Sentences: Writings from Inside an American Prison."
Between Old House and New
Coming to terms with a complicated family legacy on an Illinois farm.
The Summer We Went to the Moon
That summer, my parents and I were arguing about God.
Traveling While Black
Learning the racial geography of Indiana as a young Black girl in the 1980s.
Eight Gardens
On family, community, and gardening as social practice.
The End of a World as I Knew It
On childhood summers at a black enclave in Michigan, and the moment everything changed.
Summers at White Birch Lodge
Reflections on three generations of family and community in Michigan.
Nuclear Power
A writer remembers her relationship with her father, an inspector of nuclear power plants.
The Polish Christmas Eve Feast that Helped Me Find Home
"I’ll never lose Wigilia because it’s not just a tradition; it’s a way of being."
Losing the Farm
"The twentieth century in America brought dramatic changes to the farm...one of which was the abstraction of my family and me from our roots on the land."