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My First Writing Residency
I spent two weeks in March in Amherst, Virginia as a writing resident at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided, and once-a-week housekeeping is included. Residents are writers, visual artists, and composers, and there are about 20 or so present at one time.…
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Against the Grain: On Quilting, Rebellious Spirits, and the Miseducation of Wendy Kendrick
“When the house creaks or makes some weird sound, I just say ‘Hey, Ms. Aminah.’ I figure she’s just tipping through to see what I’m working on.” I smiled when Wendy Kendrick, the 2021 Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Fellowship recipient, said that. The fellowship includes a three-month residency in Ms.…
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The Season for Honoring Ancestors
I have a business phone and a personal phone. I had the personal phone the longest. Had the phone number for 14 years (I’ll get another phone so I ain’t tripping on the number), and I had the phone for about 6-7 years. A few days ago, it just stopped…
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Re-Membering Women’s History: Laura Gadson and Shimoda Donna Emanuel’s Story
Any good visual artist, writer, musician, or dancer will tell you that the process of creating is deeply spiritual. Artists are vessels for the ancestors to communicate. Like when they told Shimoda Donna Emanuel that she wants to learn how to make jewelry—a craft that’s granted her a seat at…
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Everything ain’t/is a sign
She saw a cardinal. Said it was an ancestor visiting. He was seeing frogs everywhere. Said it meant abundance. Ole girl thought the rainbows she was seeing meant growth and good fortune. Meanwhile, I was rolling my eyes and thinking, “Everything ain’t a sign!” After all, cardinals are very common birds…