‘Can You Really Be a Queer Muslim?’: Intersectionality and the Complexity of Identity
The Complexities of Pressed Purple Flowers: A Reflection on Alice Walker’s Anti-Semitism and Choosing Love Over Hate
I finished reading Living by the Word – I only had one essay left – but each sentence no longer carried the same inspiring vitality; the words fell subdued, dampened and flat in my mind that ran with a cacophonous array of thoughts. The purple tones of the pressed flowers seemed to be more faded than they once were. I could, and would, never look at Alice Walker the same, read her work in the same way or perhaps even read her work at all…
Black and White: How Race Impacts Our Queer Experience
There’s a phrase commonly used, particularly among gay men: ‘No Fats, No Femmes, and No Blacks or Asians’. Originating from the ‘dating’ app Grindr, it was (and is) frequently used by white members to deter people who didn’t fit their ‘preference’ from messaging them…
‘I Didn’t Know I was Black Until Fourth Grade’: Growing Into My Blackness After a Blurred Sense of Racial Identity
I learned that I was black during recess. Kids told me that ‘I was the whitest black person they’d ever met’ and that ‘I talked so white’. This was extremely confusing at first. Where I grew up was the hub of any and every race that you could think of, and everybody was friends. So, when I became labelled as a white-black person, it didn’t make sense to me…
Recognising My White Woman Privilege and the Toxicity of My Tears
I have witnessed many situations where tears are used to victimise oneself to deflect blame and re-establish white supremacy (whether consciously or subconsciously). These are the tears that a white woman will shed when she feels she is being personally called out for being racist. And yes, I have been that white woman…