The cynic in me says I’ve made a side hustle out of airing my family’s dirty laundry. To be fair, writing about family secrets started as self-therapy about a decade ago. But that private journaling turned into regular public blogging after a trial post on Facebook earned likes and shares…

I’ve often wondered what a dirt-poor, white handyman would see in a poorly educated, black domestic worker. Certainly, they saw love. But undoubtedly, they also glimpsed the future. Decades before Richard and Mildred Loving defied interracial marriage laws and social mores, my grandmother and her common-law husband did the same…

In the national debate over reopening school buildings, the parents of more than 50 million American school children were forced to make decisions that could have long-term implications for their children’s health and education. Some families had plentiful, if imperfect, schooling options this fall: pods, private tutors, schools able to…

DNA testing sometimes reveals truths– the ones your family will not. Recently it confirmed my life-long hypothesis: the man I knew to be my father, with his dark clay complexion and tightly coiled locks, could not have passed on the genes responsible for my pale skin and straight hair. By…

As each high school graduate approached the microphone at the synagogue we attend to discuss their future plans, I shrank back in my seat. Then I looked at my oldest daughter in the seat next to me. She stared straight ahead. As a high school senior, she too had reached…

Some of the best goals I’ve ever set at work or in life, I’ve missed. So, if you’re starting off the new year planning to count calories, measure career milestones or track bucket list accomplishments, my best advice is to set goals you’re sure to miss. For more than 15…

The origins of passing stretch back to our country’s founding. For some Black people, crossing the color line meant a chance to improve their social status, economic opportunity, and marital prospects. Some scholars claim passing is no longer a phenomenon because of greater economic opportunity and stronger legal protections for…

My face burned — whether with anger or shame, I wasn’t sure. In 1994, I stood outside human resources at the CBS offices in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio City and listened to my future boss over the phone. You want the job? You need to complete the paperwork…

For years, the guiding force in my life tied my shoes, yanked a comb through my tangled hair, and then dragged me along by the hand wherever she went. My big sister Neecie had big dreams and wasn’t about to let me slow her down. Being the only girl in…