Helen Murray | 2021 The very first time I heard Claudia Rankine’s words was in my final year of high school, when Citizen: An American Lyric was first published Black Lives Matter movement was surging. A poet whose name I can’t remember came to visit my English class, and he continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2020 My first time at the roller rink was similar to many other people’s first time. I walked up to the guy standing at the counter with rows and rows of quads and inlines lined up behind him. He looked bored, and I could tell by the continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2017 Many people oppose the idea of linguistic injury or, simply, the idea that words can hurt. This in turn leads to an opposition to political correctness. We elected a president simply because he said whatever he wanted to without thinking about being what we would call continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2016 “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.” – Claudia Rankine Claudia Rankine’s book Citizen: An American Lyric has been called many things. Some call it poetry, others call it a criticism; Rankine herself calls it a lesson, a lesson on continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2016 Representations of what we would now call biracial women in popular American literature of all genres have been ever changing throughout the decades. During slavery, the one drop rule kept near white blacks in servitude, as exemplified by the character Iola Leroy in the novel of continue reading…
Helen Murray | 2019 It was never my intention to prevent you from knowing about my family (your family) but there’s less draw because my parents are gone. It’s painful. If I knew how I would feel right now I might have made different choices. There’s a massive link missing. continue reading…