August 25, 2023
Twenty-five years of no meeting up or communication. It wasn’t intentional; she couldn’t remember how it happened. It was an argument, she thinks. But it didn’t matter to her anymore.
August 24, 2023
I tell her that her brown skin comes from her birth mommy who trusted me enough to adopt her. I remind her that she shares a culture with her auntie Shaunte who she loves.
August 21, 2023
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up for my class about leadership in ministry settings. However, I quickly fell into the intense depths of the first book assigned, My Grandmother’s Hands. It’s all about healing from racialized trauma and not just for folks with skin darker than my pale European descent.
August 19, 2023
August 18, 2023
You weren’t in the casual class pictures that we took from time to time, or so I thought. You were not friends with my friends. I don’t think you had any, really. But I was at the front each time. And yet, somehow, I met you one day.
August 16, 2023
As a history fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the honest, in-depth historical setting, details, and experiential ways of life depicted in the book. Other history fans, particularly of the medieval period, will enjoy these elements as well. These historical pieces come into vivid clarity through Swanson’s writing in ways that non-historians could never offer.
August 15, 2023
May you find encouragement to face your own trials, commiserate in your own struggles, and generally just enjoy these works by the gifted authors and artists the world over.
August 13, 2023
I paced as my mind went back and forth from confident to full of doubt. It was only an hour but felt simultaneously like five minutes and like a year.
August 12, 2023
August 11, 2023
Laid on the cold ground, eyes upon the stars, she held still.
If she didn’t exhale that breath and inhale another, everything could end....
August 10, 2023
…I was concerned about anyone in my department seeing my child anywhere near my classroom, but I hoped that I was close enough to the parking lot that no one would notice the late exchange…
August 7, 2023
Some books on these topics are dry, others difficult to read because of the intense content. However, Arthur Riley helps the reader welcome the discussion on these challenging topics through the beautiful wording and deeply personal, but somehow not overwhelming, insights of her own.