Author Kuukua Yomekpe reflections

Another piece of the memoir

“OnSa Sshwε mbSframa ebien sika ye Sdze brε mi Sboso a? Sε wannfa ba nkε oye!” Grandmother stuttered in her frustration, fussing about the meager amount of money my father brought for our upkeep on his sporadic visits. My father’s visits always evoked such outbursts from Grandmother though none were ever expressed in his presence. … Continue reading Another piece of the memoir

Author Kuukua Yomekpe Social Commentary

To Try Or Not To Try: Butchering Unusual Names

So which is better? Trying to say it and then totally messing it up, or asking how to pronounce my name and attempting to repeat it as correctly as possible? Nothing irks me more than those who after asking for help (more than once) in saying it then proceed to laugh loudly and nervously, throw their hands up in the air helplessly and inform me that they wouldn’t try it even if they had Rosetta Stone sounding it out phonetically for them. The sadder issue for me is that this latter crowd is often comprised of my non-immigrant Black brothers and sisters. Almost as if getting it right would reveal some residual knowledge of Africa. It leaves me speechless. If this is the case, why did you bother asking me to say it so many times for you to begin with? SMH.

Author Kuukua Yomekpe reflections

OMG! Your Hair Is So Cute!

"Your hair is so cute!" she squeals. I tense up. "I like your hair! How did they do it? I mean is it like just twisted?" I nod as I slowly close my book and raise my head to meet her face. I already knew she was white. I had spied her when I sat … Continue reading OMG! Your Hair Is So Cute!

Author Kuukua Yomekpe reflections

Apologizing Profusely and Checking In

You have been on my mind at least once a day for the last month. I am sorry for not keeping you posted on what’s been happening. Quite a bit has happened and it’s all happened so fast that I’ve had to do all I can to physically keep up. Blogging about it to share has been high on my priority list but I haven’t been able to make that happen until now. Thank you for checking in and reading and liking posts even as it’s been silent on here. I’ve missed hearing from people, perhaps you have as well? 🙂 Forgive me for the silence. You will find though that I have been writing. Working very tirelessly on the memoir, as well as a lot of other social commentary pieces that I will share with you soon. I also finally got off my behind and turned in close to 5000 words for two contests and a residency application. Keep all those appendages crossed for me!

Author Kuukua Yomekpe reflections

Someone else said it. I think when I finally get the words, it’ll be too late to write.

michelealexandre's avatarmichelealexandre

 

When Whitney Houston died this past weekend, I was shocked by the amount of grief and the wave of emotions I experienced.  In disbelief, I watched myself undergo the five stages of grief for someone I had never met and did not know intimately.  You see, I am not the type who feels personally invested in celebrities.  In fact, I abhor our increasingly celebrity obsessed culture and often wish that we would lay off the blind adulation just a tidbit.

Still, I knew that Whitney Houston’s voice and songs had always touched me in a special way.  I can vividly recall the countless times when I used her voice to get me out of a funk, to inspire me, to soothe me or to just help me be still.  I have been in love with her voice since I was a teenager and have bought any music she put out.  I…

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