How I Finally Learned That Trauma Does Not Define Me
I celebrated the 10th anniversary of my release from a New York prison in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. I was there to participate in...
Ava Duvernay’s “When They See Us” is one of the most accurate portrayals of incarceration
I wanted to hate Ava Duvernay for making When They See Us. Her film was too poignant, too distressing, too good, and, frankly, too close...
For formerly incarcerated, little room in Airbnb's sharing economy
Airbnb doesn’t care about people like me. I learned this the hard way a few months ago when I tried to find accommodation in Washington,...
Dear 02A3172: Letters To and From a Caged Bird
In 1999, when I was 19 years old, I was arrested and charged with first degree murder, several counts of attempted murder, attempted...
The Uber Soca Cruise: Magical Freedom at the Dawn of the Trump Era
This first-ever cruise was a five day celebration of unity and Black joy Fifteen hundred people, including me, left America for a magical...
I Think About My Funeral When Police Stop Me
What was Terence Cutcher thinking about before those Tulsa, Okla., police killed him? Every time cops stop me while I’m driving my car in...
Police & Policymakers Need to Stop (Mal)Practicing on Black Bodies
My brother, Kiese Laymon, is the dopest writer in the game. He likes Andre 3000 more that I like, and I like the Wu more than he does....
Opinion: Our Coping is a Farce
Activist Marlon Peterson of Brothers Writing to Live opens up about Black vulnerability in the face of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling...
Addressing gun violence in Trinidad and Tobago
Originally posted on Trindad and Tobago's Newsday AUTHORITIES are at their wits end, it seems, as wanton violence siphons the lifeblood...
From Prisoners to the President
In December 2008, as I was starting the final year of a 12-year sentence in a New York state prison, the African American Organization,...
