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After growing up in foster care, Ashley, a young Native-American Caucasian woman, converts to Islam in hopes of finding structure in a life where it never existed. However, with that decision comes the risk of losing one of the few biological connections she still has.

In 1965, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley debated the American Dream’s effect on the America Negro. The debate took place at Cambridge University, and the spectating student body proclaimed Baldwin the winner by a landslide—164 to 44.

In this poem, Smith recounts her experience at a Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters’ show and the love she, and every other audience member, was shown.

“Nineteen-year-old Israel Moncado spent his childhood being shuffled from one foster care setting to the next. After years of untreated gender dysphoria, and the bouts of self-harm and social isolation that often result from stigma, Israel visits his first LGBT center and discovers he’s not alone. When he finds a safe space in a transgender community, Israel begins to embrace his identity.”