I woke every Saturday at the crack of dawn and longboarded down to the coffeeshop to open up. I had a column in the local paper. Everywhere I went, I sang to myself, “I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T…do you know what that means?” I had my own apartment. I had my own job. My gang of friends only a … Continue reading Why I Left Florida
What I Need to Say About My Mixed-Race Identity
“Most mixed-race people associate with one race over the other.” The first time I heard this, my mind jumped to every mixed-race person I knew. Specifically, half-white, half-something-else people. Barack Obama. Henry Golding. Jo Koy. Yes, I suppose I can name ‘one race’ for each person even though they are mixed. Obama is the first … Continue reading What I Need to Say About My Mixed-Race Identity
What “American” Means to Me
I avoided it a lot. I read NPR stories about it. I liked my friend’s tweet about it. But whenever the video appeared of President Trump’s rally chanting, “send her back!”, I leapt off my chair and crawled under the desk until it was over. I’m not an immigrant. Nor am I a child of … Continue reading What “American” Means to Me
My Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation
“Do you want a bindi?” The girl who asks me blinks with her synthetic rainbow falsies. I’m at a tapas bar in England, shimmying to reggaeton beneath a canopy of upside-down sombreros. “Sure!” I shout back. The girl—a white English girl—untacks a gemstone from her paper and presses it against my forehead. There. A bindi. … Continue reading My Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation
Losing My Memories of England
My friend is due here in twenty minutes to play tennis. I sit on the edge of my bed with my laptop perched on my knees. The email spreads before my eyes. Due to inactivity, Dropbox has deactivated your account… Oh crap. Let me back up. Six years ago, at the tender age of eighteen, … Continue reading Losing My Memories of England
My Problem With Guy Friends
“Whoa, Rachel. You hang out with a lot of guys.” I snap my head around and glare at this person I just met. Who does he think he is? He doesn’t know me. I hang out with a lot of guys. He makes me sound like I’m weird. Girls who only hang out with guys … Continue reading My Problem With Guy Friends
That Time I Went to a Burlesque Show
So I have a habit of putting myself in compromising situations. Not bad situations although that happens too. But the kind of situations where my moral barometer suddenly becomes muddied. Case in point! Picture me. Your average churchgirl minus the coffee addiction (cough, cough, Savvy). I’m at uni and my friend invites me to a burlesque show. … Continue reading That Time I Went to a Burlesque Show
What Living in England Taught Me
“If you want to show your English friends that you’re trying to embrace the culture, here’s what you do…” The speaker at international students’ orientation pauses for dramatic effect. We lean forward and she says: “Have a drink in your hand.” When I moved to England, I wanted to acclimate to the culture. Looking back, … Continue reading What Living in England Taught Me
Rachel Noelle Sammons 