A not-quite relative is my aunt Janet, who lived on the South side of Chicago, which automatically made her a black woman in the same way that if you live on the North side, you are automatically a little bit white even if your skin doesn’t match up.
All tagged Naming It
ESSAYNaming It: An Essay in Six PartsPart Five: Incidents Relating to High SchoolNaima Karczmar
It takes a lot of white to lighten black, is usually a waste of paint (grey is more beautiful and easier to achieve with some kind of turpentine based thinner) but it takes very little dark to darken light, and for this reason, I think, my mother looked at me and thought her genes had failed her.
NON-FICTIONNaming It: An Essay in Six PartsPart Four: Family Names, Familial IncidentsNaima Karczmar
Naima Karczmar delves into her family history in part four of her essay series Naming It.
NON-FICTIONNaming It: An Essay in Six PartsPart Three: A Different Kind of NamingNaima Karczmar
Naima Karczmar continues her raw, honest look at race, identity, and family in her six-part essay, Naming It.
NON-FICTIONNaming It: An Essay in Six PartsPart Two: A Catalogue of IncidentsNaima Karczmar
"When she read black Cinderellas into my fairytales, I believed she was lying to me."
Naima Karczmar's moving, personal "Naming It" essay series continues with Part Two: A Catalogue of Incidents.
NON-FICTIONNaming It: An Essay in Six Parts Part One: A Name and an IncidentNaima Karczmar
Naima Karczmar with the opening to her six-part look at race, identity, an d growing up, the brilliant experimental essay "Naming It".
"My mother taught me about white people, swore at them when they appeared on the television, readjusted her rock as if it could protect her from them as well as the electromagnetic waves."