The Thread: Near Miss
I’ve seen them in the post office, or stapled to utility poles, fluttering in the evening breeze.
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Posts Tagged: Racism
Racism Shouldn’t Be Shocking: Toppling American Myths
Let us teach something new to the next generation that speaks to the lessons we’ve learned.
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The Body That Is Terra Nullius
My body is a terra nullius, belonging to no one, not even me.
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How to Become a Poet: A Conversation with Ashley M. Jones
“You don’t have to drink yourself into the Great American Poetry Masterpiece.”
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On Becoming a Person of Color
I finish counting and start over, trying, always, to solve the equation of myself.
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Rumpus Original Fiction: Today, You’re a Black Revolutionary
The important thing to remember when climbing a pole, a rope, a mountain is to not look down.
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They Prefer People to Die: On Trump, Borders, and Racism
A good man doesn’t leave someone to die in the desert, and when he uses God’s name, he does it to bless, not to kill.
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How I Learned to Hope Again
And in order to hope, I have to once more believe—in the midst of unrelenting dark—that light exists even if I cannot see it.
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Struggling toward Truth: Porochista Khakpour’s Sick
Khakpour gathers courage, again and again, as she reaches into the most painful parts of her life, excavates them, and holds them up to the light.
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The Medically Misguided Approach to Mistreatment
The definition of mistreatment is so broad that we cannot fully grasp what it is.
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Look at How the Bullets Have Missed
I praise everyone I can still touch, their warmth a violent protest against the cold weapons of death.
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Having a Female Orgasm During the Trump Administration
“I am wondering if politics affect your sex life.”
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The NFL and Compulsory Patriotism
A piece of cloth is not being disrespected, but many black Americans are being disrespected, and killed.
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Splintered Doors
This journey is ongoing. But I know this: my daughter will never have to break down a door.
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The Emotion of the Moment: Talking with Terese Marie Mailhot
Terese Marie Mailhot discusses her debut memoir, Heart Berries, crafting trauma on the page, and her views on motherhood after writing her memoir.
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Like Juggling Knives: Talking with Rumaan Alam
Rumaan Alam discusses his new novel, That Kind of Mother, the limits of the employer-employee relationship, and the grossness of heterosexual sex.
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These Places Surround Me: Talking with Quintan Ana Wikswo
Quintan Ana Wikswo discusses her novel, A Long Curving Scar Where the Heart Should Be, delving into the facets of trauma, and her creative processes.
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Taking Back Control: A Conversation with Joseph Osmundson
Joseph Osmundson discusses his memoir, Inside/Out, intimacy, trauma, and the sometimes violence of desire.
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The Rumpus Poetry Book Club Chat with Shara Lessley
Shara Lessley discusses her new collection, The Explosive Expert’s Wife, the task of humanizing those we might dismiss as monsters, and writing toward hope.
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VISIBLE: Women Writers of Color: Renee Simms
Renee Simms discusses her debut collection, Meet Behind Mars, leaving law to become a writer, and writing through major life changes.
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VISIBLE: Women Writers of Color: Carmen Maria Machado
Carmen Maria Machado discusses Her Body and Other Parties, riffing off the work of others, and how writing is like solving a math problem.
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Strong Island’s Horizon
Whose lives are visible? Whose pain is just? Whose grief is vocal? Such inquiry is not rhetorical.
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The Experience Takes Its Shape from You: Talking with Naima Coster
Naima Coster discusses her debut novel, Halsey Street, getting pushback on her use of Spanish, and the importance of equity and inclusion in higher education.
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Take the Words “Judeo-Christian” Out of Your Damn Mouth
“Everything about the term is predicated on bad faith. It needs to die.”
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Power and Consent in Brown America
The rules of a more even world might call into question those of us who knew that we deserved better but could not match this knowledge with unambiguous demands.
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I Thought You Were Different
I don’t tell him that just because I happen to be black and he happens to be dating me means that there’s no chance that he could be a racist. I am not a pass.
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SquareRoot of Love, Politics, and Power
If we really believe that love is important and necessary then where is it, especially when it comes to world politics and power?
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Which Flame Is Mine?: A Conversation with Rajiv Mohabir
Rajiv Mohabir discusses his second collection, The Cowherd’s Son, his work as a translator, and resisting erasure in a racist America.
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The Burden of Teachable Moments
My voice begins to crack so I clear my throat. I look at each one of the girls one by one. The heat in me rises. My skin feels like the Texas pavement in July.
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An Arduous Reality: Testify by Simone John
Simone John’s first full-length collection of poems, Testify, is a remarkable exercise in documentary poetics.
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