Surviving
-
It’s Been A Year
Content Warning: Sexual Assault / Rape. For those who have not read Perfect Moment(s), I was raped exactly one year ago, the night of December 4, 2019 or the early morning of December 5, 2020. It’s been a year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days since the night of my assault. I decided to share…
-
A Short Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
I had the honor to receive an advanced reader’s copy (ARC) of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, a NYTimes Bestseller and a Nebula, Hugo and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Astounding (formerly Campbell) Award for Best New Writer. She’s also Black, Indigenous, and a Diné-in-law. Black Sun is a…
-
Perfect Moment(s): My 25th Birthday
Content Warning: Death, Sexual Assault, and Rape. It has been so long since I have written anything here. The last thing I wrote was in December. Three months later and the world feels so much different than my last post. There is a sort of haunting beauty with that revelation as I celebrate my 25th…
-
The Right Sequence: Guardians, Innovators, & Guides
I have these childhood memories of dancing, closing my eyes, and hoping that with the right sequence of steps and grace, I could call forth the rain. Then, there it was. The raindrops kissing my skin. The mud caressing my feet. My body bursting with joy and laughter being liberated. I remember the strike of…
-
Telling (Creation) Stories in the 21st Century
I recently read TRAIL OF LIGHTNING by Rebecca Roanhorse (Ohkay Owingeh /Black/Navajo in-law). It is considered a Sci-Fi/Fantasy postapocalyptic/dystopian book that takes place sometime in the near/far(?) future and the main character is a Diné womxn. Below is Amazon’s description of the book: While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters…
-
A Promise & 23rd Celebration
I did it. I made it to my 23rd birthday. This is a celebration because I promised myself it would be. “But today is different. From now on, my birthdays will be different. Today, I plan to celebrate this day to celebrate myself. Because turning 22 is an achievement.” – Today is My 22nd Birthday I…
-
Being Home: Emerging 2018 Thoughts
It has been twenty-three days since the start of 2018. Since December 20, 2017, I have been in the midst of the red mesas and canyon walls familiar to my soul; surrounded by the juniper berries and slumbering yucca plants, healing and reflecting upon the completion of 2017 and my first semester of graduate school.…
-
Indigenous Hypervisibility
In the spring of 2016, I proposed a research project, Indigenous Hypervisibility: Examining Frameworks of ‘Success’, to examine how we portrayed ‘success’ and the effects of that this portrayal has on my fellow Indigenous youth. I re-wrote it as a blog post. Historical and contemporary portrayals of Native/Indigenous Peoples often exist in the margins of…
-
Niłch’itsoh, Hai, and Power
The coming of the big wind and snow. Niłch’itsoh is here, and that means Hai (winter) is on its way. Niłch’itsoh means “big wind” and is the beginning of Hai (winter). It is also the last month, December, of the Gregorian calendar. This year, Niłch’itsoh and Hai remind me of something. They remind me of power. Growing…