I know how to love Arkansas through this identity crisis, because like my own identity crisis, self-hatred doesn't accurately represent who Arkansas is.
Embracing Arkansas: A Journey of Love and Self-Discovery
Arkansas
5 Growing Seeds
Kelsey Lou and sister Karly Lynn must team up to protect one another against the forces of Patriarchy encroaching on their garden, invading their home, and squashing their hopes for real romance – or their futures – to ever blossom.
4 Class
Kelsey Lou felt the weight of this truth, sittin' beside Mr. Bybee smackin' dip under his lip in American History. Even though he was asking for her homework, not sex, it felt the same. Fact was, she'd said no, and he wouldn't take the answer she gave him.
3 The Walk
The Ozarks produced some of the finest, most inspiring folks theyd've ever met, just as it had also beaten and stripped them of their life's potential in the same swift stroke of God's paintbrush, the very moment God seen fit to place them in the U.S. South on the divine canvas of possibilities.
2 Stretching in the Fog
The morning air was foggy enough to see it wasn't still, and still enough to not see anything at all beyond the cloud. Looking out the upstairs bedroom window, Kelsey Lou Faye tapped her fingers against her thigh without any particular rhythm. She knew the sun was up ‘cause the fog was gray instead of black, but there was no knowin’ how long now it'd be before Ma'd wake up and start makin’ the whole family wish they'd died in their sleep.
1 A Romantic Story in Ozark Vernacular English
"Well ain't you pertty as a chrome skull on the hood of a Chevy drivin' down a paved road," Junior smiled as he took off his hat. Kelsey Lou Faye didn't care for the dress her mama'd made for her. It waddn't pretty like Dolly's Coat of Many Colors. Kelsey Lou's mama had stitched this dress with bitterness and spite — the kind that attracted the attention of good ol' boys like Junior.
Diplomacy
Once upon a time, I was invited to the table with a group of cisgender people from large NIH-funded organizations, who were voluntarily tasked with addressing transgender inclusion for their entire respective institutions. Another trans person was also invited, but after one meeting, she never returned. It was just me. Just one white guy without … Continue reading Diplomacy
Love in a Time of Fear, part 2
Expecting a partner to respect me as a full human with equal rights is really the bare minimum. It's just a bare minimum most men in the United States don't live up to.
Truth No. 2: On the 2016 Election
CW: child abuse & CSA // Every link here is a song. Enjoy. My parents ran against one another for President in 2016. I could see as soon as my mother became the Democratic nominee that the whole country was bound to lose, no matter who won. As a child I was told, "If anyone … Continue reading Truth No. 2: On the 2016 Election
“We’ve Invited the People of Color. Where Are They?”
I believe that transparency is fundamental to Democracy, and fundamental to healthy community building. I hope the organizations who've inspired this post will share this belief, as it forms the basis upon which I write the following in a spirit of goodwill and community healing: Last night I attended my first-ever local Democrats meeting. I'd … Continue reading “We’ve Invited the People of Color. Where Are They?”
The Front Porch 