nerd activities – dara t. mathis

#Blogging201 and the case of the misplaced brand

So, um, hi. Like the title on the site says, I’m Dara.

Maya Angelou: Warrior, Writer, Wonderful Woman

RIP Maya Angelou

On Rejection, Determination, and Wrecking Balls

Today I was rejected from a workshop I applied to and I can feel that familiar hurt folding me into someone a little less bold. For years, I let rejection (and the fear of it) reduce me into rubble, crumbling any determination I would build into so much detritus. But not again. Not this time.Continue reading “On Rejection, Determination, and Wrecking Balls”

Love Letter to Black Women

This is a love letter to Black women, my sisters. I have never loved anyone quite as hard as I have loved you. This is not to say that I have not loved others well or loved them deeply, because I have. But loving you is hardness, requiring the density of commitment fortified by an enamelContinue reading “Love Letter to Black Women”

In Memoriam: Amiri Baraka Made My World a Black Poem

I was trying to comprehend exactly why the death of poet Amiri Baraka affected me so deeply. I cried when I heard. I haven’t read his work in years, I didn’t always agree with his politics and polemics, but still…I feel I lost something yesterday afternoon. Amiri Baraka spoke at Florida State when I attended, I thinkContinue reading “In Memoriam: Amiri Baraka Made My World a Black Poem”