In poetry, I didn't have to provide resolution. I could ask hard questions without feeling responsible for the answers.

I do use art as a site of protest, particularly in relation to dominant narratives.

I couldn't write about love without writing about hate - specifically, how the experience of hatred embeds itself in the body and prevents love from entering or leaving.

I continue to explore poetry.

In my thirties, I have felt a greater urgency to make art that highlights what it feels like to be racialized, likely due to living in a country that obscures our racism with the idea of "multiculturalism."

I used singing as a safety measure. I would pay attention to what songs the popular girls liked, learn those songs from the radio or library cassettes, and then "accidentally" sing or hum these songs in class. This would impress the girls, who would then defend me from the boys.

I think white artists have a responsibility to be not only naming white supremacy, but to be using their power and privilege to support artists of color.