Individually, every grain of sand brushing against my hands represents a story, an experience, and a block for me to build upon for the next generation.

I have never bought into the idea that blood is thicker than water. Love and respect are meant to be earned from our children, our spouses, our families, and our friends.

Nobody, she felt, understood her-not her mother, not her father, not her sister or brother, none of the girls or boys at school, nadie - except her man.

This thing I am feeling, I’m almost certain, is the closest I’ll ever come to standing somewhere in between truth and reconciliation.

This is what I know about my parents. They spent the next several years trying to forget each other, and me.

The hospital room was as cold as dead skin, the hallway crowded with lost souls and reeking of illness.

I wish she'd said something different, but patriarchy is as prevalent around the world as racism and xenophobia are. We can't hide from it, not even here.