Many years ago, as an undergraduate student, I agreed to house-sit for my French professor and her husband during the summer while they traveled in France. Meanwhile, I remained in southern Maryland to work my job at the college. I had known of my professor’s plans for months, and over dinner and long walks around...
Since learning to swim, I have become an advocate for others who want to feel more at ease, especially in the deep end. I feel immense joy when previously hesitant swimmers, both adults and teens, refuse to get out of the pool at the end of class, having found comfort in a space that once...
As I glide back and forth in the pool, lap after lap, I relax into the rhythm of the water against my skin. The water is just right—neither too hot nor too cold—and I marvel at the ease of my strokes. Beneath me, the cobalt blue lines stand out against the white pool floor, steady...
Today I dove twelve feet down to the bottom of the pool to retrieve a ten-pound brick. I’m required to be able to do this, without goggles, as part of my training to become a swim instructor. Many times before, I made the attempt unsuccessfully and resurfaced early without the brick. Moving through the blurry,...
A foundation to healing and self-understanding For those of us who have lived between cultures, the quiet act of naming our truth can be a radical reclamation. On a picture-perfect weekend, I reconnected with my roots at the May 2025 Calabash International Literary Festival held at Treasure Beach on Jamaica’s south shore. Against a backdrop...
I was honored to participate in the Montgomery County, Maryland, Caribbean American Advisory Group’s Community Conversation on March 25, 2025. The panel focused on Immigration, Houses of Worship, and Stress Management, and I appreciated the opportunity to engage in such an important discussion. Highlights of my panel discussion included: Signs of stress: Changes in appetite...
Last Saturday for Black History Month, and I was at Politics and Prose to celebrate the launch of Marita Golden’s new book: How to Become a Black Writer: Creating & Honoring Black Stories That Matter. Brimming with the wisdom of the ages, Marita Golden did not disappoint. She sat alongside fellow literary activist, E. Ethelbert Miller and responded...
What’s that one song that draws you out of yourself, gets you to start singing or bust a move? Last Saturday, I danced and shouted with a group of thirty-five women and men of all ages, sizes, and physical adroitness at a YMCA Zumba class in the DMV area where mid-December through mid-March, the days...
One Caribbean friend packed her bag and headed home on November 3rd. That day, faced with packing her suitcases for her months-long stay with family, my friend appreciated having an extra hour of daylight-saving time, but more important, she rejoiced knowing that she would be out of town, and in the tropics when the days would...
“Like watermarks on paper, aquatics can leave ineffaceable impressions on cultures, on memories, and on one’s sense of place and identity.” ~ Kevin Dawson in Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora Trauma healing is a process. I was only ten years old when I accompanied my father and uncle to Hellshire Beach, a...
