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Category: Real Stories

The Ideal Conditions under which to see ‘Get Out,’ as a White Person

The Ideal Conditions under which to see ‘Get Out,’ as a White Person

by Andrea Crowley-Hughes Take all of a Saturday to decide whether you’re going to see Jordan Peele’s lauded horror comedy, “Get Out.” You generally can’t make it through horror movies without hyperventilating, but Jesse David Fox says you’ll be okay, and most everyone you’ve heard from agrees that the quality of this work is worth the discomfort. After the apprehensive part of your brain puts forth its losing arguments, head into the night. Hold your partner’s hand extra tight as…

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How Going Gluten-Free Changed My Life

How Going Gluten-Free Changed My Life

by: Nadia Gerassimenko I had the worst stomachache when I was six. It crept up unexpectedly and completely incapacitated me, leaving me lying and moaning, tears streaming from my eyes. I felt impregnated with heavy gases and sometimes it felt as if sharp knives were cutting through me. If it weren’t for my mother holding my hand, I didn’t know how I would survive the night all alone, how I would even calm down and drift off to sleep. The…

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Discovering Dance as Resistance

Discovering Dance as Resistance

by Caitlyn Berry Whenever I meet someone who tells me they “can’t dance” or they “have no rhythm,” I usually don’t respond, because I usually don’t believe them. In the rare instances I challenge their claim, I find that it is more of a fear of judgement than lack of any apparent musicality or ability to move. Hundreds, even thousands of years ago, dance was simply a spiritual and social practice where nearly all members of society were participants. It…

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Where to begin? These are my thoughts, this is what scares me

Where to begin? These are my thoughts, this is what scares me

by Claire L Lanier My father worked for the State Department for 35 years. Before that, he was a history professor, insistent that we learn about the past so that we could better understand the world around us. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, my family lived overseas, primarily in developing countries. We interacted intimately with other cultures, and my brothers and I had friends from all over the world. After I moved back to the US in 1997,…

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The Pink Wave

The Pink Wave

by Rachel Piazza “Up from a past that is rooted in pain, I rise” Alicia Keys spoke the words of Maya Angelou as a sea speckled with freshly knitted pink hats swelled through the streets surrounding the National Mall. “Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise.” Each stanza churned the pink water like a strong gust of wind. Electricity pulsed through cheers and chants. In the moment that…

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