I’m finally getting my life together… by ShalenaD.I.V.A

  Have you ever had someone in your life, whether it is a parent, sibling, or lover who constantly encourages you to do something positive in your life? Deep down inside, you know that they are right. You know that you need to make some moves in your life. You know you need to get [...]

Daddy Magic by Kesha Lane

As if a magician had waved his magic wand, my father vanished into thin air when I was four years old. He and my mother decided to go their separate ways after four years of marriage. As a child, I didn’t understand what it meant for a marriage not to work or the concept of [...]

A Quilt for my Father by ShalenaD.I.V.A

I can still remember the moment I saw a section of the traveling AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at my high school. I hated it. My classmates admired the patchwork, studying the names and pictures of AIDS victims from all walks of life. As they remarked how the quilt heightened their awareness of the magnitude [...]

The Man I wish I Knew by Shalena D.I.V.A.

It has been nine years since my father passed away. Prior to his death I despised him. I spent years being angry over how he used to physically abuse my mother and how he abandoned me when I was four-years-old.

When You Lose Your Rock By Irene Stallings

It was the beginning of January 1995; the start of a new year for most, but an ending for me. I was 2 months pregnant with my son. I had a loving husband, supportive family, and was living good. Everything seemed great.  I worked night shift and was on my way home the morning my world took [...]

A Letter to Daddy by Anya Nicole

Dear Daddy, I decided to write this letter because I’m finally ready to tell you how I feel. Now that I’m married and I have a family of my own, I’m able to verbalize everything that troubled me about the relationship you and I had while I was growing up. I always wanted a close [...]

My Father by Mikenda Early

When I think about Father’s Day I’m filled with mixed emotions. It often takes me back to the time I was a little girl sitting in my room playing with my dolls, wondering why my father wasn’t there. Growing up as a teenager was very hard because I didn’t have that father to help protect [...]

When Mama’s A Lesbian by Kesha Lane

The first time I realized my family was different, I was about five years old. It was a beautiful summer day. My grandmother was in the kitchen rinsing fat, red strawberries. I watched as she used a paring knife to snip the green tops from the berries before slicing each one into eighths. The berries [...]