Learning without anguish, Teaching without fear, Creating without limits
Early mornings spent supine, Waking softly, slowly, with stretches and meditation. Gentle devotions meet fervent prayer, before Scrubbing and polishing, locking in a little more Youth with a potion of ceramides, hyrdogel, vitamin C, Retinaldehyde, something called squalane, and SPF. (Though I still suspect most of those to be as Make-believe as their strange names …
Dear You, First of all, I hope you're well. I have a few things to say about how you let our relationship fall and shatter, instead of putting it down gently. If you're reading this, I hope you're willing to listen, but I don't care if you're not. Rather than carry these unsaid words, I …
I’ve only dreamt thus far— of the step beyond this, the limit of my understanding. Of the taste of touch, of the scent of tenderness that punctuates timeless moments of embrace. I want to wake up. To finally feel it. All of it. From fleeting nudges to whispers below the ear to the seamless caress. …
One of my seminars from this week inspired the #RealTalk (in French: #ParlonsFranchement) that I do with my students every week (see featured photo). This week marks one FULL YEAR in some kind of/all kinds of lockdown & quarantine, as a result of Covid-19. I will never forget where I was/what I was doing/who I …
https://badblackademique.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/bbh-test-1.pdf This is an excerpt from the "Beauty and Black Hair" writing workshop that took place via ZOOM on 24 October 2020. Organized by the Dominican Writers Association and hosted/moderated by Ariana Brown (@arianathepoet). Prompts (in bold) by Ariana Brown and original responses (in italics) by BadBlackadémique.
I wish I could say I “found” this while finishing my run today, but it found me. I had seen something fluttering around, getting tossed back and forth along the edge of the highway about a block away, but I didn’t think too much of it. I had been struggling to get in formation with …
When things get difficult, I find myself wishing I could skip to the end. Not so far forward that I will have accomplished everything, because there would be no satisfaction in that. I want to fast-forward just enough, to the moment where I’ve broken the threshold of the last page, to where I have just …
"In loving memory... / of hugs, fellowship, breathing freely / of the unknown experiences that entail a "normal" first year..."
“She emerges three-dimensional from the flat, plaster setting as though breaking through water—though whether she is coming up or going under is unclear. Her position is contrapposto, arms raised as though awaiting the click of my camera. The energy of her nude body is wound tight and ready for release. Her next move is a …
when I’ll meet Me. if we have already met but are not on speaking terms. * what my mother’s mother looked like. what my father’s father smelled like. which part of this body that I critique so much is actually an heirloom. * if pain will always be a prerequisite to happiness, for Bodies like …
Bad Blackadémique 