It's the most wonderful time of the year, when love is everywhere, but all I have is pain." It's a sentence that feels like something whispered into a December night sky, hoping someone (anyone) is listening. We're listening. The holiday season arrives wrapped in twinkling lights, Christmas carols, and a thousand and six reminders that this is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. But for many, December doesn't sparkle--it stings. For every joyful reunion, someo

Photographs by Julia Morozova Opinion | the point-of-view | Gabrielle Pyne It varies between late evening her time, early morning my time, or 14 hours and vice versa when we FaceTime, either way, the conversation lasts for two hours at minimum. During this particular long-distance call with one of my best girlfriends who’s currently living in Busan, South Korea, with her newlywed husband, I’m watching her load the dishwasher as we casually joke about the all too familiar “ick

Opinion | the point-of-view | Keyona Porshaa` After I’d forcefully watched George Floyd take his last few breaths under a white man’s knee, I closed my eyes tight trying to envision him instead smiling, black, and breathing freely--that being the only way that I could truly make peace with such tragedy. I just couldn’t close my eyes to the image that they wanted me to digest. The most radical thing I could do in that moment, was highlight him and all other Black men differe

Opinion | Law Jones Dear Alchemists, I wish I could tell you the state of the black man in America was as “solid as a rock,” like a Rhythm and Blues, 1980’s jam by Ashford and Simpson or that the black man was “black by popular demand,” as the 1990’s black apparel boldly displayed, but I am burdened with the truth and lies of my country ‘tis of thee [of thee I sing] and I must lay this at your feet. Another unarmed black male was shot and killed today. The where and when

Column | Philip 'June' Smith I was born on April 17, 1958 in Pittsylvania County, VA. My given name is Philip Junior Smith but my friends and family have always called me June, even to this day. I was born to Philip O’Donald Smith and Nancy Adams Smith who worked as sharecroppers and in that day in age were considered to be poor. Nancy, my mother had two sons from her previous marriage: William who was nine years old and Larry who was seven. They were my older brothers or st