Sublime

What is a country but a life sentence?

For her entire life, unwittingly, she has complied with her parents’ first shared principle: Make no noise in this world. She, Carmen, Amelia—all three Ma girls. Don’t stand out; you have no right. No one owes you a thing. Keep small, vote mainstream, and nod like it all makes sense. Yet here she is, asking for trouble. Acting like what she does mi

Watching a parent being debased like a child is the deepest shame. I cannot count the number of times I have seen my parents condescended to or mocked by white adults. This was so customary that when my mother had any encounter with a white adult, I was always hypervigilant, ready to mediate or pull her away. To grow up Asian in America is to witne

Je me souviens de mes dernières années en Haïti quand je ferraillais encore dans un hebdomadaire contre le dictateur. Je rencontrais mes amis, tard la nuit, dans des bars interlopes où se retrouvaient aussi des sbires du pouvoir. On discutait littérature, politique, peinture, sport et jeunes filles, autour d’une bouteille de rhum. Atmosphère hautem

In 1991 the nation of Zimbabwe bought our building and everyone was evicted.

Over the course of the twentieth century, Haitians, escaping poverty and unrest, sought refuge in the Bahamas as well. It was and remains a deeply stratified place, sitting at a crossroads, with the global elites and their tax havens at the top and poor Haitians living in shanties at the bottom. It is one of the tragic ironies of global history tha

power of mother-love,