Author: ExiledMind

A native Seattleite and East Coast transplant, I have been interested in politics, religion, and race from the day I saw “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” on the bookshelf belonging to my BFF’s mom back in 1991. While my zealotry has thankfully diminished with maturity, I remain the deep thinking, passionate, and humble woman I have always been.

The Lost World

March 1, 2023.Reading time 13 minutes.

It was Tuesday, February 24th, 2004. I’m seated in the conference room for our weekly team meeting. Suddenly, my cell phone begins to vibrate violently. I remain anchored to my seat, not excusing myself to answer it. It continues to shake for the next few minutes. But I sit through the meeting anyway. I know […]

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Justice?

December 14, 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

It was October 3rd, 1995. It was relatively warm in Seattle. The weather hadn’t turned cold and damp yet, so I wore sandals and skorts my aunt bought me from JCPenney. My second-period class, Japanese 2A, had just started. Listening to the announcements, I coated my lips with another layer of MAC’s Fetish lipstick. I […]

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Just Dance, Part II: The Hammer

November 4, 2022.Reading time 9 minutes.

In my last essay on dancing, you may have noticed one glaring omission: MC Hammer. I did not exclude MC Hammer because I think he’s unimportant. Instead, I wanted to devote an entire essay to him. Hammer was unarguably a great dancer and entertainer. But his story is about much more than that. We didn’t […]

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