Headlines Be Clunky: Finding Words Amidst Chaos

This time last year, we took our first family trip out west. My husband, a community organizer, got the opportunity to attend a conference in Olympia, Washington, a place he called home for four years as a college student at the Evergreen State College. I had never been out west before and my eagerness to …

Long Distance Love Before WIFI: a true story

Ive kept a journal most my life. I remember my first journal was a gift from my aunt when I was in the second grade. It was one of those themed journals, in this case it was from The Secret Garden. It was fully illustrated and included short quotes from the book alongside broad blank …

Desk

Are you following me on IG? @nadasamihwrites Now is a good time to start! It's almost Fall and almost a full moon, a great time to deepen my writing practice while giving followers an inside look at how that happens. Hopefully, that will encourage all of you to find your flow and build that relationship …

“This is Where We Used to Live”: Revisting the Providence Mall Apartment

https://youtu.be/8ggJS0p-QQc Providence residents might recall the strange case of the Providence Mall apartment back in 2003. That was when a group of artists known as Trummerkind built a secret 750-square-foot apartment in the mall where they lived in on and off for 4 years. According to the artist website, "The post-WWII term Trummerkind - German  for "children …

A Rhode Island Story of Racism: The Watchman Institute

"If you take racism away from certain people ― I mean vitriolic racists as well as the sort of social racist ― if you take that away, they might have to face something really terrible: misery, self-misery, and deep pain about who they are. It’s just easier to say, ‘That one over there is the …

Pandemic Gardening: Lessons in Healing

Im certainly not the first gardener who’s noted the parallels between gardening and life. Gardeners know a good harvest begins with good soil or that weeding makes way for more of what you want in your garden and less of what you don't. This summer of 2020 the parallels seem especially magnified.   Even though we …

Unpopular Opinion: Art & Motherhood Don’t Need to Clash

Doing anything while parenting can feel daunting and heavy at times, keeping appointments, getting ready to leave the house, making dinner, being stuck in traffic, the list goes on...add to that the current pandemic and of course the stress and anxiety go up ten fold. Writing while parenting-pandemic or not- is always a tricky balancing …

Notes From a Refugee: Trauma of Paperwork

Palestinian trauma around “official" state documents is far reaching and deep.  Nothing quite like having your land stolen to shape your political beliefs or guarantee mistrust of power, but I still remember the feelings of relief and later gratitude, as I received my American citizenship 2 weeks before sept 11th, 2001 changed immigration laws… Apparently …

The Kids Are Alright: Unplanned Summers & What That Has To Do With Racism

These days I feel triggered by these targeted ads and headlines showing up in my social media feeds about surviving the summer with the kids, and the difficulty of parenting this summer during the pandemic.   First of all, when is it not hard to constantly be the one doing all the childcare? It takes …

Reflections on Teaching: Practices for an Anti-Racist Classroom

As a young person, I was blessed with a handful of teachers who inspired me to be my best self. My peers, troubled young people facing enormous challenges due to poverty, addiction, or trauma inspired me too. Once I became a teacher myself I knew that it wasn't enough to go through the motions in …