infitnite hope

My friend, Micha asked me to guest post on what King’s response may be how his dream is (or isn’t) playing out as a part of a larger Patheos project to address the American Church in lieu of Black History Month.  For whatever reason, I don’t love addressing the Church directly -I feel too fallen […]

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black woman chair

When an international magazine editor sits down on a chair called “the black woman chair,” for an editorial magazine… …heads are scratched. Pearls are actually clutched.  Swear words are articulated.  Anger is not just in the head or heart, it is felt in the body.  From anger to sadness to despair. Then you remember this […]

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I am racially Italian-American & African-American.  I am a biracial, self-identifying, culturally & ethnically black American woman living in the segregated Midwest.  I grew up in Detroit, one of the most segregated cities in America. I am often mistaken for being Latina-American & one time, white.  Outside of the U.S. in countries as varied as […]

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chicago_street1200

I went to the Story Chicago Conference this past week.  The theme was A Sense of Place but I felt anything but. The 1st evening of the conference, conference creator Ben Arment gave us a brief welcome and an introduction to the 2013 Sundance-award-winning documentary, Blood Brother.  The film follows a white American, Rocky Braat […]

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Ransom and Rhys at Cedar Campus

What it is like to identify as one race in one ethnic background and give birth to another?  That’s what I’m attempting to tackle in a healthy way from now until, let’s see….the end of my life. In the meantime, I’m sharing over on Deidra Riggs’ Jumping Tandem blog.  Deidre has been doing a fascinating 31 […]

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Ma and me

I grew up in a home where my older, white brother called me a “stupid little nigger” more times than I can count, and where I countered with “ignorant, loser honkey!” more times than I care to admit. My brother had grown up in an all white neighborhood until White Flight swept through in a […]

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ME

What it is, yo. Sing the following words to Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA‘: So, I put my hands up their playin’ my song, the butterflies fly away… ay-ee-ay-ee-ay-yay-ah, there’s a party at gabbingwithgrace, ay-ee-ay-ee-ay-yay-ah, there’s a party at gabbingwithgrace! =)

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nevergiveup

I’ve been doing a lot of never-give-up tweets or facebook status updates. Even my Google+ bio reads, “Never Give Up.” Life sometimes feels like a giant fist and we measly little chumps start off as rock-hard punching bags, but over time are completely beat up by it. I hope I’m not coming off all woe-is-me. […]

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