I bought begonias. And hibiscus. And roses. I planted lettuce and beans and mint and kale. The rest of the garden is at my parents’ house. I really wanted to turn my balcony into a summer oasis this year. I don’t know why. …

Let’s also talk about Lupita, Denzel, Tyler, Bradley…and Jada — “What is joke to you is death to me.” — my late, great Jamaican grandfather I wouldn’t be surprised if “the slap that was heard around the world” became the subject of the next Red Table Talk: Jada, Will and Chris, sitting around a table, unpacking what happened that…

We do not have the luxury of half-assedry and exasperation — Michelle Obama knows it all too well. There’s a reason why she traded powerful pantsuits for feminine sheath dresses as soon as she became First Lady, and why we are only now seeing her wear her natural hair more regularly. After a gaffe about being proud of her country, and…

Here is a very long list of things that help me live in the present, hopeful and less afraid. — It was only a few short hours ago that I discovered that my ex-boyfriend, with whom I had broken up less than a year ago, had apparently very recently gotten married. I have been overtaken by shock and incredulity and I feel confused and blindsided. There’s more to that story…

Beggars can be choosers and our sense of individualism has gone to toxic lengths — What do you think of the following?

“This is the worst group project I’ve ever been a part of in my life.” The social contract is in tatters. — I had this piece in my drafts section but Jess Gray beat me to the punch: I have always hated group projects. I especially hated the group projects in which everyone would ultimately receive the same grade, regardless of work distribution. Group projects allowed people’s true nature to rise…

You honestly do. I know they said you don’t. But you do. — “I wish I dated more.” We were on a camping trip — me, my sister, an older female friend from church and another older male friend from the same church who was driving us all into the great Ontario wilderness (well… ok, fine. Guelph. We were driving to Guelph. …

Can all previously harmful words truly be reclaimed? — “You’re fat.” If I had a dollar for the number of times someone called me that, I would be writing this piece from a beach in Maui and not from the cold, desolate wasteland that is Toronto in October. I remember the time I opened my lunch bag at school…