Before you read this post, please consider donating to and otherwise furthering the hard work of Black organizers across the United States, as well as demanding justice and accountability for the Black people killed by law enforcement and white supremacy. Let's talk about policy. Let's get political. Recently, some colleagues and I created and began … Continue reading On the fallacy of apolitical policy
Category: Uncategorized
Warning: Bummer of a blog-post
All my life, I have told myself to wait for the future. I have invested in my future both resources and my own emotions. That’s a pretty banal thing to say, in its ordinary meaning. We all do this. But I have done it to such an extent that I have failed - or at … Continue reading Warning: Bummer of a blog-post
Growth and change: Soliciting feedback
Dear readers, This reads much like an ending. I promise, it is definitely not that. For the first time in a few years, this summer, I well-and-truly get to have a summer. In the fall, I'll be starting my graduate program, the Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at The Fletcher School at Tufts … Continue reading Growth and change: Soliciting feedback
Short note: Eid blues and how to fix them
I was not excited for this Eid. For all that I was grateful to have relatives nearby in the Netherlands, I really felt the absence of all that was familiar to me. My first Eid in Boston had its bitterness undercut with new friends, an Islamic community to go to the Masjid with, and options … Continue reading Short note: Eid blues and how to fix them
Dormant anger in the postmodern era and a music review
There are days - more realistically, nights - where I'm so overcome by my own sudden, built-up anger that I don't know what to do with myself. It'll come entirely out of left-field, usually while I'm working, maybe triggered by a lyric in a song or something I read. Right now I'm reading about the … Continue reading Dormant anger in the postmodern era and a music review
In defense of the fantastic
I will be the first to admit that I read fiction far more than I read non-fiction*. In her fairly successful attempt to make sure her children turned out to be fluent in English, my mother filled every bookshelf I ever had with books either bought firsthand, secondhand, or passed down from her own childhood. … Continue reading In defense of the fantastic
The profound sadness of living in a city
There is a man who stands outside the Park Street T entrance right on the Boston Common. He is always shaven, dressed in a black windbreaker, carrying a backpack which always has a water bottle tucked into it. He carries a cardboard sign that says "My son and I are homeless" and that's when I … Continue reading The profound sadness of living in a city
Resisting
When fending off darkness and jadedness is resistance, you walk as if your joints are sandpaper. There's a constant ache in a part of your body you can't quite pinpoint. Every time you smile, you throw the bags under your eyes into relief. You still smile with your eyes, though. There's tension in the tangling vines that grow … Continue reading Resisting
Stranger in a Strange Election
I make no secret of how invested I am in American politics. No matter how you look at it, the entire world is affected by American policymakers (much to my chagrin - I am nothing if not a proud denouncer of American exceptionalism) and considering I live in the United States, partake in this country's … Continue reading Stranger in a Strange Election
Walking alone
Sexual harassment, or straight-up unwanted attention is a reality for almost every woman. It's also incredibly frustrating to be walking or be sitting somewhere by yourself and have someone approach you. I don't need to extrapolate very much - there's a line between friendly and uncomfortable. Friendly makes eye contact. Friendly has a sincere, sometimes sheepish … Continue reading Walking alone
Neiha Lasharie 