“The city will always pursue you” The wooden porch, the bird feeder in the crabapple tree, the screen door with holes in it, a warped tupperware container filled with cough syrup and cayenne pepper that I, age seven, stir carefully with a wooden spoon. “Are you making potions?” my dad asks as I spritz the
Yes, Sara Mardini Is Still in Prison for Saving Refugees, and So Is Seán Binder
My summer was filled with editing work for Joshua Dubler and Vincent Lloyd’s book on prison abolition. This led to a lot of thinking about who the prison system criminalizes and what justice means in the framework of that system. When the school year began with news of the arrests of two activists, one of
Pride Aesthetics: A Foray into Christopher Street Day
Attending the annual Berlin Christopher Street Day Parade this past weekend marked my second experience with the increasingly global phenomenon of LGBT Pride. My first experience took place in my home city, Boston, USA, in the summer after I graduated high school. I remember the anticipation leading up to this first exposure to LGBT cultural
A Call for International Solidarity: On the Fight for Immigrant and Refugee Justice
About a month ago I applied for an American tourist visa at the US embassy in Skopje because I plan on visiting my boyfriend there during fall break. Admittedly, I felt a little resentful of the process. Security guards with guns they weren’t going to use led us into the waiting room
Dispatches from a Dead Language
When I started to learn Latin, I saw it everywhere. Location played a big role in this — Latin seems woven into the regional character of Italy, where I undertook a summer course in the language in a three-week intensive program at the University of Bologna. Bologna was sweltering, the streets in the center of
“I think, therefore… God exists?” — Thoughts of a Liberal Arts student trying to make sense of Descartes
As long as I can remember, I have struggled to understand how some people can be convinced of something as complex as the existence of God without any actual proof. Although one might argue that the fact that we exist and the occurrence of supposed miracles, etc., suffice as proof, people who need to have
I AM – a poem
I am my umbilical cord My mother’s sleepless nights My father’s long drives I am the scent in my mother’s wardrobe The high heels I never fit I am the ingrained institutionalized religion Founded on fear. I am the shame and the guilt The vagina I am the black eyeliner I draw around my eyes
A Girl with a Baby Face: Where Sexism and Ageism Collide
About two months ago, on one of those perfect days that alluded to the upcoming Berlin summer, I was craving falafel. I stopped at one of the many Dönerbuden that line the streets of this city (near Eberswalder Straße, if anyone’s curious) to give into my cravings. After encountering the chirpy vendor and ordering my