Essays

December's People

On America’s election day, I flew out of San Francisco to London. The last time I’d flown was on the eve of Brexit, and as with that flight, many passengers were nervously checking mobile devices before takeoff. We were informed that the pilot had decided not to announce election results for fear of a possible mid-flight eruption, but for those who cared to check, there would be intermittent Internet access.

July's People

When I landed in London, on June 24th, I was shocked to hear that Britain had voted to leave the European Union. As a black Briton I took the vote personally, and even more so coming from America where I’d been living for the past twenty years and grown tired of the nasty persistence of racism.

What Virginia Woolf Forgot To Say

One cannot write well if one has not slept well.

Coming of Age in the Time of the Hoodie

Twenty years of living in America has cured me of any whimsical notions I once held about the fluidity of racial categorization, and race now presents me with the following dilemma. When talking about race there is always a part of me that feels as though I am perpetuating and legitimizing it, giving it the fixed status that it should never have. But then not to talk about race, or to try to ignore it, is not only impractical but also irresponsible.

This is San Francisco

In my twenty years of living in San Francisco, I’ve seen the city become largely unaffordable to those with average incomes. The technology boom brought an influx of technology workers whose presence was resented, grumbled over, and blamed for exorbitant real-estate prices.

What James Baldwin Means To Me

For twenty years, James Baldwin’s Collected Essays has sat close to my writing desk, closer than any other book I own. My edition was edited by the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, which makes the book special for me, having once had occasion to speak with her about him. I have travelled with these essays between my childhood homes of Jos, Nigeria, and London, England, to where I now live, in San Francisco. Baldwin’s writings are a guide and inspiration to me.