In the West, food insecurity and hunger are seen as other peoples’ problems. Parents chide their children for not clearing their plates, and lecture them about starving youth in distant, non-Western countries. When holidays like Christmas roll around, schools and workplaces hold fundraisers to provide villages or camps with food supplies for the next few
Of Clay and Wattles Made
A great many years ago – or maybe not so long ago – I’ll leave it to you to determine – it was decided, quite against my will, that I would take the Number Fourteen bus to school. The bus was a great beast of a thing. It rattled deafeningly as it struggled over mud-covered
Knead & Other Selections
Knead… the earth with rain, and let it fain the glaring lips of the sun. Knead the earth. Pour your mortar among molded bricks and molten sand. Knead the earth, and erect your dwellings high. For like the shrub pierces the womb and sprouts from the face of Mother, you, too, shall wreak ruin. Reign
On Belonging, Writing, and Migrating with Dr. Fatin Abbas
Bard College Berlin offers a myriad of classes dealing with questions of race, migration, and culture. This semester, I am grateful to be part of one such course, African Narratives of Migration and Globalisation with Dr. Fatin Abbas. Fatin is a writer and professor whose work lies at the intersection of African and Middle Eastern
Bonfire Night
“Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot. We see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!” The first verse of this nursery rhyme rings in my ears as clearly as it did the day my mother taught it to me. And this song returns once a year, as she and
On Mourning and Criticising Ruth Bader Ginsburg
To celebrate my eleventh birthday (which at the time I thought was an exceptionally important age), I convinced my parents to take me to the beautiful city of Jaipur in India. It was my first time visiting the Pink City and I was taken aback by its sheer grandeur. The city is full of architectural
Along the Panke River and Geoff Lehman’s Advice
I savored the obscenely long snooze I could afford myself on the Monday morning of Fall break. Successfully making my way into the kitchen and making coffee before noon, I texted Federica to see what she and Valentino were doing and within a short time, I was on my way to meet them at Schlosspark