Shay 
Growing older in the social justice movement as a Black woman is a trip! It makes this current moment of uprising in American colleges interesting to bear witness to, with the lens of an elder activist. Despite what some believe and are loudly proclaiming, this is not the first generation to rise up against the …
Back in 2019, I spoke at a conference at Illinois State University in Normal. Illinois is my home state, but Normal is not really a place Chicagoans flock to unless it is related to the university. The town is only two hours away from Chicago, but it bears no resemblance to Chicago. It is a …
Look, I understand the “ride or die” concept. There are people who have my back or whose back I watch over who qualify as ride-or-die—either the way they feel toward me, me toward them, or both. But like so many sentiments and philosophies, when it’s taken to a certain point, it loses positive meaning and …