Tag: writing
-
Keep saying Kedu to all the ancestors gone, like my Mama!
I talk to my late grandma, often, every Sunday in particular. Whenever I say my prayers after holy communion, I say hello to her. English was not her first language. So all her prayers were in pidgin English and Igbo back then. She mixed both languages often. My favorite being the one for Blessed Sacrament.…
Written by
·
-
Keep being in service of others like moonrise!
I imagine a people can lose sight of their history. Become swept away by the current of other people’s history. Ignore too when the rain began to beat them that they forget to dry themselves up. All of this is grave. The loosing sight, being swept away and simply forgetting. But of all this, prescribing…
Written by
·
-
Keep knowing that research is people!
I remember her smile like it was yesterday. She always smiled. She was tall and very beautiful. The look on her eyes was like paradise, always mesmerizing, always kind, always tender, always love. Her name was Selena and she was loved by so many. I share her story today, not to grumble, but as a…
Written by
·
-
Keep knowing where your voice belongs or all things Sheryl Lee Ralph!
“I am an endangered species. But I sing no victim song. I am a woman. I am an artist. And I know where my voice belongs… To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream, wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true. I am here to tell you that this is what believing…
Written by
·
-
Keep the significance of grants like roots!
There is a part of a grant, more poignant to me these days. It’s the part that keeps me up every night. The part that keeps me restless. The part often hidden. The part that anchors me. The part too that absorbs everything and transports me to new heights. The part worthy of digging. The…
Written by
·
-
Keep notes to Angi’s cervix or cervical cancer!
In a little over a year, now, our life as we knew it came tumbling down. We called her Angie or Angi and to know her was to know life. I am reminded again, that death should never have the final say. Not when those alive can continue the story of a live well lived.…
Written by
·
-
Keep knowing what you will keep or legacy!
The news of the Queens death came to me yesterday in the middle of work. I paused to immediately reflect on the number 70 and the age 25. Here was a woman who ruled her land for over 70 years, a land she inherited at the age of 25. Legacies are built this way, young…
Written by
·
-
Keep celebrating work, like light!
I went to a gathering today, to see how people that worked like me, celebrated their highs and light, rejoiced in the success of others, and smiled because we worked. I left knowing, that work is work. But can be more, like light, when it is not hidden, when it is surrounded by people who…
Written by
·
-
Keep writing grants in service to others!
My son drew a picture of himself at school today. He was dressed in a blue cape and black pants. I asked if he was inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog given similarities in the shade of blue. He shared that it wasn’t but rather it was a picture of him with a cape full of…
Written by
·
-
Keep running in rain!
She said to me, Isioma, we have a problem. It’s been 15 months since these words were first uttered to me. I still remember them like yesterday. With all the pain those words caused, with all the anger and despair, we have been told only time will heal. Or trying running now and then. So…
Written by
·
-
Keep going through your deepest darkness.
I needed to go through hell once to understand my worth. Hell helped me find my vision for the next years and decades of my life. From time to time, attacks will come your way, and they are like an obligation, a desire for you to know struggle. In my hell, I kept coming back…
Written by
·
-
Keep smiling!
Toni Morrison and her son Slade Morrison have a book about mean people I love to read to my kids. It’s my keep for today. To them, people are mean. They frown, they shout, even whisper behind peoples back. Family members are also mean. Fathers, mothers, grandparents, siblings, all of us have mean tendencies that…
Written by
·
Writing with Juliet Iwelunmor 