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Black Dancer
by Grace Andino
Names have been changed. When I was a little girl, my mother spent hours slicking back my long, curly hair into braids (with or without bobos), a bun, or puffs. My mother is Black and my father is Puerto Rican, and we live in a mostly white town on Long Island.
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Calling Out Racism at My Expensive French School
by Anonymous
Names have been changed. In the spring of 8th grade, after endless nights of working on my application, I was accepted on a full scholarship to the Lycée Français de New York. It was a huge upgrade—from my poorly funded charter school on the West Side of Harlem to an Upper East Side, $50-grand-a-year private school.
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A Curly Korean Complex
by Oscar Scribner
The moment I had been dreading had arrived. What was usually a mundane part of the day I’d sleep through was now a moment of palpable tension. The inquisitor was making her way down the list and was approaching… “Oscar Scr-binder?”
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Remembering Our Ancestors: An Interview With My Aunt Frances Cuevas
by Blonshe Katz
For my aunt Frances Cuevas, justice is the most powerful force in the world. She works full-time as the Director of Investigations and Trials for the NYC Department of Probation to maintain integrity in legal proceedings. Frances also has a highly intensive hobby that takes up most of her free time: genealogy.
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Now, I’m a Proud Full-Time Hijabi
by I. I.
“The believers are like a single body; if one part suffers, the whole body suffers.” Imam Maulana Akonjee was quoting the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) to me and four other kids in the humid living room of my grandpa’s house, as a creaky fan rotated above us.
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Living in a Paradox
by Josh Lancman
In the picture book “Ella’s Trip to Israel,” a young girl named Ella takes a trip to Israel with her family and stuffed monkey, Koofi (Kof is Hebrew for monkey). Ella and her family fly on El Al airlines, visit the ancient Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem, shop at the shuk (outdoor market) in Tel Aviv, swim in the Dead Sea, and scuba dive in Eilat, seemingly all in one long day.