My parents have long avoided having the talk with me about who will take care of my brother when they can’t anymore. Whenever I bring up the subject, my mother may joke that she is going to live to be 200 years old. And my father treats it as a topic that doesn’t apply to him. In this personal essay, which revisits scenes from our living room and includes an interview with Chung eun Lee—a sibling in Chicago who wrote that binder for other siblings of people with disabilities—I confront a reality that my parents don’t seem to want to acknowledge.
This instastory was co-produced with my classmate Lakshmi Sivadas during our takeover of Z!NK Magazine’s Instagram profile in December 2018. Our vision for this project was to increase the representation of models of color on the brand’s public-facing account. We measured how our pictures performed on the account and wrote about our takeaways. More about the conception of that project here.
Aging Machines, Crowds, Humidity: Problems at the Polls Were Mundane But Widespread
My interview during a collaborative journalism project called Electionland landed me a contribution line in ProPublica’s second-day story which highlighted a laundry list of common voter problems, including old machines, power outages, and long lines to name a few. Read more about the process of the interview and my takeaways from the project here.
An HBO TV show about the highs and lows of a Californian named Issa, her best friend Molly and their world. The co-star, Issa, also writes and produces the show. I live-tweeted the season finale on Sunday, September 30 and grew my impressions by over 2,000 in two hours. (The first thread in the link above. Here is the second.)
Rethinking Language and Disability: My Evening With Disability Rights Lawyer Haben Girma
I wrote an abridged version of a lengthier blog post for INCLUDEnyc following my experience communicating with self-advocate Haben Girma who earned the title of White House Champion of Change by former President Barack Obama in 2015.
Teaching felt a lot like performing. In those 12 months, I learned a lot about patience and the importance of communication with all parties involved in one’s education. I documented a few of my favorite lessons here and what students took from it.
Conversations on Autism and Sign Language: Unlocking the Emergence of Social Communication
I served as the rapporteur for my alma matter’s first conference on Autism and Sign Language in 2015.
A taste of my homecoming adventure to my family’s native country of Eritrea in the summer of 2014. Every picture in this short collection was taken on my iPhone 5C.
How My Unemployment After College Brought Me to Turkey
An about 2,000-word reflection on unemployment, religion, streetwear and walking as a Black, first-time traveler in Istanbul.
Turkish Women Push Back Against Patriarchy
Some Istanbulites reacted strongly to a proposed bill that would restrict oral contraception to only women who have a doctor’s prescription. Workers at pharmacies who heard about the proposal, however, did not feel it would be economically disruptive. Sources, mostly women, said these restrictions aim to prowl on their personal lives.
Healthy Conversations at Barbershops
Nelson Urraca isn’t a doctor, but he is trained to give health messages to his clients. He and his team of haircutters at Nelson’s Barbershop in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, USA have been trained by the Arthur Ashe Institute to talk about high blood pressure, diabetes and HIV within the last decade. At the shop residents share their personal matters and use the equipment at no charge.
