layers and links: volume four.

"Three Things I'd Tell Ben Three Years Ago, After He Came Out" by Benjamin Moberg.

"It sounds strange, but when you leave the faith, God's going to shuffle along behind you. Not that you'll notice Him. You'll be too busy averting your eyes from all things religious, plugging up your ears in every conversation about the faith."

To add my own note here, this may be the most beautiful blog post I've ever read. Ben writes with such searing honesty, it's like he's inviting us to feel his heart, both the pain and the joy he's experienced to make it where he is now. This is an unflinchingly honest piece of art, and one that is so true and so worth every second of your time.

"What Does It Mean To Be Black-ish?" by Christena Cleveland.

"Rather than acknowledging that the Johnsons represent an upwardly mobile group of black people who offer a Black Experience in White America narrative that differs from the stereotypical one, the showrunners for Black-ish have subtyped upwardly mobile black people, thus reinforcing the stereotypical narrative in America's consciousness."

"How Should We Define Masculinity? A Q&A with Charles Blow" by Jason Parham.

"Boys are constantly confronting this notion of failure because they cannot live up to the idea of people saying to them, Man up! Be a man! And they don't know what that is because they're just trying to be human. And being human is sometimes fragile. I believe we have to redraw our collective concept of what masculinity is so that it includes the possibility of difference and variation. And once we do that we free these kids up to be kids, and to be human beings."

"I Am Not Okay" by Grace Sandra.

"Are you okay?

They

see you cry.

They see you fall in a fast, steep crumble.

Are you okay?

There's so much to fear, so much to worry about.

They roll up their sleeves: what can be done?

Is it going to be okay?

Dunno, you say."

"Advice for Aspiring Young Writers [from an Aspiring Young Writer]" by Jackie Lea Sommers.

"Don't let yourself be paralyzed by fear of failure; I am telling you right now: you will fail. But keep showing up. Write a bad first draft, the worst one in the world. But then show up and write a better second draft. Show up again and write a better third draft. Repeat until you're satisfied with your work. Meanwhile, the people who never showed up might not have a first draft at all. They're still on the starting line, scared to put down a wrong word."