On Eid-ul-Azha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, I knew no one in Nashville. I decided to wear my white shalwar kameez to commemorate the festival. What else could be done?
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Are You Visiting?
I’d never seen a mosque in the South.
Essays
The Way It Ends
Mom and I had just gotten to the really good part
She was the person in the world who cared the most for me and the one person whose love would be unchanged by my mistakes. Her embrace was the warmth of acceptance, and without it, I feared I would break.
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People of the Pandemic
Remembering the first days of the coronavirus crisis
Nothing illuminates the beauty of the average day quite so brilliantly as the fear that the average day has vanished indefinitely — maybe for always.
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Layers
When love isn’t love
Getting to know a person is like digging through the core of the Earth. Sometimes you find interesting and complex layers; other times, you hit an empty cavity that’s waiting to devour you whole.
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The Legacy of One of Our Most Important Books
Vanderbilt University Press confronts the racism in its history
This volume helped set the course of the Press. It helped cement our reputation for publishing important, vital scholarship. All the beautiful words in it were devoted to celebrating and eulogizing the legacy of the white supremacist South.
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Cooking Through COVID
On the power of feeding people during hard times
Hard times have always pushed me into the kitchen, a place where I feel comfortable and safe. Feeding other people also makes me feel a little less powerless.
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