on god

Where you from?

is a question I get often when I’m anywhere else but home while in the middle of an enthralling conversation, and there’s always a look of surprise/intrigue when I tell them... I’m from Chicago. South Side. Suddenly, the conversation goes from whatever cool thing we were rapping about to everything Chi-Raq: guns, murder, drill — a stigma that informs the social conversation & policy affecting our lives today. However, the Chicago I know is more than pop culture’s imagination of it. what some refer to as gangs, i refer to as neighborhoods;

folk i went to school with.

folk i played basketball with.

folk that protected me from bullies.

folk i fell in love with.

folk i still love.

folk that know my mama’s name just like i know their mama’s name.

folk that love being a father.

some gone.

some still here.

on god is an auto-ethnographic archive of a nuanced Chicago. the writing here stems from moments / encounters / conversations from my everyday life here, born over a year. things told. things heard. things never forgotten.

on god...