Author Archives: Makayla Writes

I speak from a place of hope today. Let’s imagine what our Black futures could look like. Will it be a place of struggle, innovation, healing, or complacency? Today we hold our collective futures in our hands and there are several paths before us. I know what our past looks like. I see images ofContinue reading “My Black Future Dream”

You decide to start writing your 20 page seminar paper due in two days, it is 7 PM Every time you try to write the paper you work for exactly 5 minutes before deciding you obviously need a break for your hard work So you try to binge watch a show on netflix Only toContinue reading “A Snapshot of Chaos”

One night I stayed up. I watched the trees blow through my window and listened. I heard planes above my head and the wind whistling through leaves. I listened to the creak of my apartment and gentle snores from my girlfriend next door in our room. I leaned back on my couch as my eyesContinue reading “A Tale of Two Nights”

My ancestors did not bleed, sweat, labor, and dream to see me exploited in 2019. I did not suffer and climb my way out of the underbelly of Leavenworth Kansas, a police state ran by descendants of the KKK enacting laws of their ancestors, to feel unworthy. I did not suffer through impostor syndrome atContinue reading “Dreams of My Ancestors”

“You think too much”. I’ve always been told this. I remember the look my mom gave me when I asked why the sky was blue at age 6. “Why does it matter”, she said. I couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to know everything, to understand the mysteries surrounding them. So I looked in aContinue reading “You Think Too Much, Please Don’t Speak”

I remember being 9 years old and watching Sundance and IFC in my apartment living room. Our old TV with the large back had all of the channels, and I used this access to learn more about the world outside of Leavenworth KS, and my limited, Black, church upbringing. My favorite things to watch wereContinue reading “What Happens When Your Dream Fails?”

This is hard for me to write. I typically don’t like to talk about things that make me feel…something. However, I also know the importance of using one’s voice to speak about their lived experiences. Speaking up about this may help others, or not, at this point it doesn’t really matter. I have always feltContinue reading “Staying Human While Searching For Work”

“Nigger” . The word sprang from his lips with velocity, and assurance. This was not the first time he said it, not with that confidence. Me in the store, young black and tired. A white child in the store with his mother, barely beyond babyhood. Who taught him these words? “Nigger”, he calls out againContinue reading “Little boy, white”

I have always loved water. As a little girl I would float. I would float in pools. I would float in tubs. I submerged myself and became unmoving, still alive but not vital. I wanted to be in that in between place, the place between life and death. Sorta like sleep, except in water IContinue reading “Breathing in Water”