Burning Books, Burying Scholars

i. The Warring States I unified the warring states for you Old classics, Confucius teachings burnt Wisdom buried – scholar by scholar Insurgency cut – tongue by tongue One Emperor, one wall is all you see ii. The Red Little Book I swam across the Yangtze for you Old ideas, Read more

Amy Lee

Amy Lee is a lawyer, emerging writer and poet based in Seattle. Her work was published in Thrive Global, HR.Com, The F-Word, Cicerone and FemAsia. She holds a BA/LLB from the University of Queensland and LLM from the Melbourne University. She has worked in-house for major corporations on LNG projects and now lives in Seattle where she volunteers as a career coach for Hopelink and at the Seattle Repertory Theatre Shop.

It’s True/ Untrue/ Partial Truth

You’re brown, I’d say, but some say black, or African-American. I don’t know what to say. When Girl drew a picture in class, and brought it home, and showed you: curly hair, purple skin, you, depicted. When you said, “What color is my skin?” She said, “You black.” You said, Read more

Sara Dutilly

Sara Dutilly studied creative writing at High Point University and today she stays at home with her three children, writing and wrangling and finding countless surprises along both paths. Her work has appeared in r.k.v.ry., Quarterly Journal, Mothers Always Write, and PopSugar. A few years ago her husband purchased her a website for Mother's Day and she's been writing her mothering stories at www.haikuthedayaway.com.

Black Women’s Acts of Resistance and Resilience to Trauma

Dineen skillfully dug her purple latex-swathed fingers into my bare left shoulder blade, and I yelped, “O-o-o-uch!” “Sor-ry!” Dineen cheerfully apologized. If I didn’t know better, I would think that she enjoyed torturing me. But this wasn’t that kind of relationship. Dineen is a petite, dark-haired, twenty-something Filipina physical therapist Read more

Lourdes Dolores Follins

Lourdes Dolores Follins is a Black queer woman who comes from a long line of intrepid women and working-class strivers. She comfortably straddles the worlds of academic and creative nonfiction. When Lourdes Dolores isn’t writing, she’s working as a psychotherapist with QTIPOC and kinky people in New York City.

For the Jukebox that Won’t Stop Playing the National Anthem

the sultry ode composed of smashed teeth, blood stained glass, hammer-fist dents, ready to turn public spaces into choral asylums, turn town squares into scorched earth & blast the blistering notes of nationalism, numbing the ear drums in the worst of ways, we howl like drunk men in wolves clothing, Read more

J.B. Stone

J.B. Stone is a neurodivergent writer from Brooklyn, now residing in Buffalo. Stone is the author of A Place Between Expired Dreams and Renewed Nightmares (Ghost City Press 2018) and the forthcoming Fireflies & Hand Grenades (Stasia Press 2019). His work has appeared in BlazeVOX, Peach Mag, Glass, Empty Mirror, Maudlin House, Crack the Spine, and elsewhere. You can check out more of his work at jaredbenjaminstone.com or his tweets @JB_StoneTruth.

Someone Like Me

If you think having a role model and seeing people who are like you when you are growing up is not essential, you are wrong. The power of the media is strong and whatever the message is you receive when you grow up is the one that can either help Read more

Dr. Dannii Cohen

Dannii Cohen is a former stand-up comedian and comedy writer turned author, psychologist, professional counselor, life coach and self-help expert. She is specialized in LGBT issues, anxiety, women’s issues, female empowerment, and bullying. Dannii is an agony aunt for The Gay UK. Her books; When Clouds Hide The Sun, Christopher The Lonely Bear and 50 Things To Know To Have A Better Life, are all on Amazon.

How I Became a Citizen of the United States of America

My parents had sex; nine months later I was born. My citizenship is a result of dumb luck. I did not work for it or yearn for it. I did not have to struggle to get to this country. Citizenship was a gift. I have not felt the burn of bigotry Read more

Victoria Addesso

Vicki Addesso has worked in various fields over the years, full-time and part-time. In between family life and bill-paying endeavors, she works at writing. Co-author of the collaborative memoir Still Here Thinking of You~A Second Chance With Our Mothers (Big Table Publishing, 2013), she has had work published in Gravel Magazine, Barren Magazine, The Writer, Sleet Magazine, Damselfly Press, Feminine Collective, and Tweetspeak Poetry. A personal essay is included in the anthology My Body My Words, edited by Loren Kleinman and Amye Archer. You can follow Vicki on Twitter @VickiAddesso.

#InStarbucksWhileBlack

Enough. Just enough. Last week’s news of two African American men being arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks for the heinous crime of waiting for friends is bringing race, bias, and #BlackLivesMatter to a sickening new low. If you haven’t heard the story, this is what happened. A zealous Starbucks manager Read more

Dori Owen

Dori Owen is a storyteller, writing from small town Arizona, after living a few decades in California as an LA Wild Child, with a brief stop in Reno. She settled into grownup life as a project manager, collecting an MBA and a few husbands along the way. She is a shown artist and her favorite pastime is upcycling old furniture and decor she finds from thrift stores. She lives with the cat who came to visit but stayed. The love of her life is her grown son who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her essays and poems have been published in RAW&UNFILTERED VOL I, StigmaFighters Vol 2, and Love Notes From Humanity. Her blogs have been featured on The Lithium Chronicles, Open Thought Vortex, Sudden Denouement, and The Mighty.

Political Peace No. 2

Within a country once so proud, respect and morals have fallen to the ground. Wayward children runaround, their lack of respect the new age playground. Once upon a time, sounds like the beginning of a children’s nursery rhyme, so I will spare you of your time, to forget again no Read more

Valerie Vaughn

Valerie Vaughn is a poet, writer, and author. A native of central Pennsylvania, she received her Bachelor's of Arts in History from Mary Baldwin College. She is a contributor to Poets Unlimited, Crossing Genres, and Extra Newsfeed at Medium. Her works appear in narratorINTERNATIONAL Anthologies Volumes 2 and 3, where she is an Editor's Pick Recipient.