Love is Not Loud
Torch Magazine
“I got married on a sunny, 80-degree day in late September before two reverends, 101 family and friends, four vendors, and my therapist. Not a physical therapist, but the kind that makes sense of my brain.”
January 17, 2025
The Ghanaian researcher who came home
Portraits of Potential
I'm always humbled by leaders who listen and recognize the value of their team. I met with one such leader, Yaw Bediako, Ph.D., CEO and cofounder of Yemaachi Biotech, to learn about his life-changing career pivot—from full-time academic to entrepreneur.
July 31, 2024
©Gates Archive/Nana Kofi Acquah
Out of grief, a daughter’s mission to transform healthcare
Portraits of Potential | Gates Foundation
I had the honor and privilege of interviewing Nneka Mobisson, CEO of mymdoc, and hearing the story of her father's legacy and the impetus for her inspiring career in medicine and health tech. It's a story of passion, grit, and determination.
November 9, 2023
©Gates Archive/Nyancho NwaNri
Six picks from a young political leader
Six Picks from a Goalkeepers
I had the opportunity to sit down with Goalkeeper Jana Degrott and learn more about her life, career, and how she continues to be an advocate for women and people of color in politics.
September 1, 2023
©Gates Archive/Anne Ackermann
Mental Health Days
“My second miscarriage was caused by Trisomy 18, a chromosomal abnormality that my doctors attributed to “advanced maternal age.” This was before a team of sociologists released a study declaring Pittsburgh, the place I call home, to be the worst city for Black women. ”
Excerpt From BLR: Bellevue Literary Review
September 23, 2022
Art in Parks essays
Casey Droege Cultural Production and the City of Pittsburgh commissioned me and four other storytellers to document the work created by eight local, national, and international artists as part of the Art in Parks program.
I expanded the narrative created by two brilliant artists, Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Sara B. Coleman. Their amazing public artworks will appear in Schenley Park.
Check out my two essays, “Birds Everywhere” and “Close Your Eyes and Listen” along with the work of my fellow storytellers.
The Blood Remains
“I pin my knees together like a reflex. The technician in charge tells me to scoot down. ‘More,’ she says, ‘until you’re right on the edge.’ I never do it right.”
September 19, 2020
The Fear of Nostalgia: HBO’s Watchmen and African-American Genealogy
Fantasy and Sci-Fi has always been political, which is why I was surprised that Watchmen’s overt approach to race ruffled the feathers of many viewers. Science fiction has a way of teaching us about ourselves while giving us some distance between our face and the mirror. Watchmen may have turned up the volume, but the presence of politics is neither a betrayal of the original graphic novel or the genre itself.
December 16, 2019
My City Was Named The ‘Worst Place For Black Women To Live.’ Is That My Cue To Leave?
In September 2019, City Lab published an article stating that Pittsburgh “was the worst place for Black women to live for just about every indicator of livability.” As a Black woman from Pittsburgh who also happens to be the mother of a Black girl, my first inclination was to throw all of our belongings into a moving truck and drive to D.C. where my husband’s family lives.
November 4, 2019
A view of the skyline of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. KEN REDDING VIA GETTY IMAGES
Adopting While Black
When my husband and I found the adoption agency we later signed with, one thing stood out: the absence of brown babies on their marketing materials. I called the agency and asked a few pointed questions. “Most of our clients are looking for white babies,” our case manager said. “In 14 years, you’re maybe the fifth or sixth Black couple I’ve worked with.”
June 5, 2019