(June 27, 2024)
My great-great-granny Momma Martha, my great-granny Madea and my granny Jonnie saw the remnants of slavery, the peak of Jim Crow, witnessed MLK Jr. speak and experienced so many...
(May 2, 2024)
Let's talk about alcohol, creator of (sometimes toxic) relationships, (occasional over-) sharer of secrets, balm to some (destroyer of many). Welcome to the final installment of Making Change, a six-week...
(April 25, 2024)
Let's talk about the faces we show to and hide from the world, and how the internet magnifies them all. Welcome to part five of Making Change, a six-week series...
(April 18, 2024)
I've long believed volunteering is the best way to get to know a community when you move to a new place. In 2014, I moved to Humboldt and spent my...
(April 11, 2024)
In honor of this week's Green Issue, let's talk about ... love. Welcome to part four of Making Change, a six-week series on the how and whys of personal, social...
(April 4, 2024)
Let's talk about opting out of an economic system that neither our psyches nor our planet can sustain. Welcome to part three of Making Change, a six-week series on the...
(March 28, 2024)
Let's talk about how too much comfort makes you boring, weak and small-minded. Welcome to part two of Making Change, a six-week series on the hows and whys of personal,...
(March 21, 2024)
Let's talk about how we want to show up in — and for — the world. Welcome to part one of Making Change, a six-week series on the hows and...
(November 23, 2023)
It was probably early morning but it felt like the middle of the night when we were awakened by the guards. We had only been in bed a few hours because...
(November 9, 2023)
For three glorious months in 2019, it seemed like it was finally going to happen for me. I was attending a dance fusion class at the Arcata HealthSport led by...
(January 19, 2023)
I never met my grand uncle Leon, at least not that I can recall. He died when I was 9 years old and all I remember knowing about the...
(May 12, 2022)
Last week's leak of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion on Roe v Wade took me back more than four decades, when, in the space of six months, I had...
(February 17, 2022)
This is my dad, Ricky Smith. He's been living on the streets of Arcata for over a decade. On Feb. 2, he was murdered just feet away from the...
(January 20, 2022)
When I decided to give up smoking in my 20s, I resolved to enjoy my last cigarette the night before my birthday and turned my final smoke into a...
(January 20, 2022)
The specter of COVID-19 is everywhere. It's the elephant in the room, the new "C word." But it's not the reason I'm here. It's my sixth evening in the hospital....
(November 25, 2021)
When I started writing this piece, I had grand ambitions of opening a conversation for cisgender readers. After several drafts, I decided the internet was offering plenty of organizations, memes,...
