Ebony Tomatoes Collective is a literary and arts magazine that publishes what’s personal from a black, intersectional perspective.
featured articles
Fresh new pieces, hand-picked by our editors
Even a Worm Will Turn: Devaney Sparrow Uncensored
“I’m so scared to be seen. To be witnessed. It feels pathetic and cowardly, like a child hiding between her mother’s legs,” reads a TikTok from Devaney Sparrow, 25, an Aries, sitting in the bathtub…
by Ava Emilione
Ava Pauline Emilione (they/them) is a writer, editor, and founder of Ebony Tomatoes Collective, a literary and arts magazine for black women and non-binary creatives. They were a staff writer at Washington Square News, NYU’s independent publication. Their writing has been published in Grain of Salt Mag, Mixed Mag, The North Star with Shaun King, NYU Gallatin Archive, and The Unplug Collective. They can be found on Instagram @ordinaryavaa and via email at [email protected].
A Nostalgic Nightmare, a Democratic Dream on Hold
As I begin to contemplate the beginning of this story, I realize that there isn’t one, or maybe not one I can exactly define I envision a string of hope that is formulated out of the abyss constantly cut off and weaved again like…
by Yumna Elhdari
Yumna (she/her) is a Sudanese writer, editor, creative and co-founder of Ebony Tomatoes Collective. She carries a soulful love and appreciation for storytelling through which she creates worlds that embrace marginalized voices and perspectives. Yumna is currently based in Texas and can be reached through either her email [email protected] or her Instagram @Manaatees.
Quicksand
It is a punishingly familiar tale; mothers taught to hate themselves, daughters taught the same—a tumbling hierarchy of feminine fatalism reinforced and amplified through generations; confining us to bodies so small we dare not take up space.
By Payton Selby
Payton is a student at NYU double majoring in Politcs and Journalism and minoring in Social Cultural Analysis. However, she is primarily a student of the world around her and passionate about advocacy and representation through the written word. Art is finding our own reflections in the life of another and cherishing our shared vulnerabilities.
The Liberation Zine
As a grassroots literary and arts magazine by and for black creatives, this issue is a part of our effort to express solidarity with our comrades who are fighting to tell stories of our culture, suffering, and resistance. The magazine you are holding features work from black palestinian, sudanese, and american writers. these stories are as vulnerable as they are striking—revealing a rich black diaspora who has sustained hope, despite unspeakable suffering, for a liberated and just world.
Bloom Season
The “bloom,” or our version of the coming of age story—the silence, the sensation, and the speaking—is the narrative thread running through our first print magazine. Every element of the magazine you hold in your hands has been created and edited by a community of black storytellers. We have woven these stories with our hands to hand them to you. hold them, reread them, and evaluate the corners of your own cocoon. Your bloom season is coming.
Beyond the Margin
This issue was created by an editorial team of Black lesbians with the intention to explore the expansiveness of our identities and pay homage to our ancestors. In a culture that is obsessed with placing Black people into limiting roles and stereotypes, Black queerness—more specifically Black lesbianism—is vastly underrepresented and misunderstood. It is our right to tell our stories, so if mainstream media and literature won’t represent us with respect and candor, we will create the space to do so ourselves. The issue you hold in your hands is one such space.
The Village
The stories across the Black diaspora
The Self
The stories from within
The Lovers
The stories for those we love
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