If you were in my family, you’d know that’s what I say when something’s going on or going wrong or needs to have someone’s attention drawn to it. Like the time my sister Fox and I were in a fabric store and a whole rack of giant bolts of cloth began to fall on me. “Hey,” I said — not shouted, just said it, maybe a little louder than usual — “Hey.” And my sister, at the front of the store, knew something must be happening, so she got the owner and came to my rescue.
So, hey. Nothing’s going on or wrong here, but I did want to draw your attention. Stubbornly, I’m refusing to change my ‘About’ page, but I want more ‘About’-style information … which brings us here.
How to describe myself? I’m a tall, fat, opinionated black woman writer who lives in Brooklyn, has cats and often posts rants. I work for a non-profit community-based organization. Most of the people named on this site are given fake names or nicknames to respect their privacy. Which is to say that, my sister’s name isn’t really Fox and my brother’s name isn’t really Tony … but my name is really Stacie.
Here’s what I look like now, as a grand dame of 50, still vain enough to henna my grey hairs red but not enough to lie about my age:
And here’s a sampling of posts to give you an idea of who I am and how I think:
Hidden Sister — when your family’s not all present and accounted for
Only wild animals act like that. — taking the memoir to a dark place …
Back on the Street – a personal survey of street harassment
Saartjie, Semenya and Me — the outrage of black female-ness
Street walking — the outrage of prostitution
Attention white folks … — a little rant about the “outing” of Michelle Obama and her “white ancestor”
Party in My Pants — a little Alejna-inspired silliness
Sometimes the silliness isn’t mine. (And sometimes, the hits just keep on coming!)
Dear a little dream of … women who run with wolves? — a little night vision
Big As Life — part of my month-long tribute to Lucille Clifton
Telling the Story — the one about me and James Baldwin …
The River in Reverse — the one about me and Patricia Smith’s Blood Dazzler
The Face of Home — the one about me, Paris, Parks and Hughes
Early Learning — everything I needed to know about racism, I learned in kindergarten …
SOL – This is Where I Live — a love note to my neighborhood
Beans and Rice: Power and Control — how self reflection has the annoying ability to make me look at myself
(There’s also a prequel post, Beans and Rice Meditation, introducing my mandala-making experience … and the follow-up post, the “coda” if you will: Catching a Tiger by the Tail — putting my angst to music)
I can have painfully-long lapses in writing, finding it impossible to find my way to this blog for months at a time. I’m trying to get better at getting out of my way so that can stop being the case. I’m glad you came to check out this page. I hope you’ll read around here a little, comment a little, visit once in a while …
