The Self
A curated selection of narratives gathering the stories from within. Featuring personal essays, articles, poetry, and more, explore personhood, self image, spirituality, and all the other complicated aspects that make up the self.
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The Triangle Hair Debacle
By Defne Egbo
Startled by the sharp shriek of my younger sister, I jumped out of the shower and ran out, still soapy and dripping in my bright pink towel. In the upstairs family room, I witnessed my then nine-year-old sister red-hot, raging over the purple hair brush my mum was using to comb her hair. The result: poofy hair with little curl pattern, widening out at the edges in an unfortunate triangle shape.
Flight
By Cecilia Innis
Photography: Zelle Westfall
I used to believe that the North American viceroy butterfly
was a batesian mimic of the monarch butterfly,
which is to say that it evolved
to copy the monarch’s warning signals
in order to deter its bird predators
In order to survive,
sometimes we take the bodies of others,
shed the tenderness of our insides
in the process of becoming.
To the Buried Child
By Makiyah Hicks
I’m not sure who this concerns or when we lost contact. I can already begin to imagine the “return to sender” notification that will appear as I click send on this message. I am not sure where to begin this journey or when we began our journey at all. I know that it was on a Tuesday, four days before summer, twenty years ago to the day.
Photography: Zelle Westfall
A Braided Shield
By Jasmine LeCount-McClanahan
I’ve never been a hair girl. For me, styling my hair has always been this obstacle to deal with in my day. I can’t just roll out of bed and walk out the door. I was never taught the skills to mold my mane into intricate styles. I can’t even braid my own hair.
Beauty is a Burden
Director, Performer, Editor: Angel Oduko
“This piece is a love letter to myself, a starting point for self-discovery, self-acceptance, and transformation. Over the past year, I have looked at fear in the face, acknowledging the place it used to occupy in my life. It is an expression of pride, love, and beauty.”
– Angel Oduko
To the Buried Child
By Makiyah Hicks
I’m not sure who this concerns or when we lost contact. I can already begin to imagine the “return to sender” notification that will appear as I click send on this message. I am not sure where to begin this journey or when we began our journey at all. I know that it was on a Tuesday, four days before summer, twenty years ago to the day.
Flight
By Cecilia Innis
I used to believe that the North American viceroy butterfly
was a batesian mimic of the monarch butterfly,
which is to say that it evolved
to copy the monarch’s warning signals
in order to deter its bird predators
In order to survive,
sometimes we take the bodies of others,
shed the tenderness of our insides
in the process of becoming.
A Braided Shield
By Jasmine LeCount-McClanahan
I’ve never been a hair girl. For me, styling my hair has always been this obstacle to deal with in my day. I can’t just roll out of bed and walk out the door. I was never taught the skills to mold my mane into intricate styles. I can’t even braid my own hair.
Love Letter to Saffy
By saffy
Dear saffy,
Have I told you how much I love you lately? The way you show up to the best of your ability. The way you’ve learned to handle conflict. The way you speak up for yourself. The way you love fiercely. The way you challenge your beliefs and seek pleasure. You amaze me everyday with your dreams, your desires, your fears. Naming them all in your head until you gather the courage and spoons to write them down. There is so much relief in writing your truth, for I know speaking it is not easy for you. Yet you wake up everyday determined to be here now, be bolder, be a more fleshed out version of yourself.
Lovely Specimen
By Ava Emilione
every hand that touches my hair doesn’t love me
most of the time, they’re just fascinated.
this is what i learn the summer before i turn 17
when the jersey heat made my head expand like
discount party city balloons.
two white girls approach me in the stairwell
and ask if i’ll let them touch.
Beauty is a Burden
Director, Performer, Editor: Angel Oduko
“This piece is a love letter to myself, a starting point for self-discovery, self-acceptance, and transformation. Over the past year, I have looked at fear in the face, acknowledging the place it used to occupy in my life. It is an expression of pride, love, and beauty.”
– Angel Oduko
Lovely Specimen
By Ava Emilione
every hand that touches my hair doesn’t love me
most of the time, they’re just fascinated.
this is what i learn the summer before i turn 17
when the jersey heat made my head expand like
discount party city balloons.
two white girls approach me in the stairwell
and ask if i’ll let them touch.
by this age i know my lines —
thank you
yes, this is my hair
yup, i don’t really get lice
yeah, i only have to wash it once a week
Internalization P.O.V.
By Jalyssa Jimenez
“These are emotions I struggle to authentically express and this piece is a reflection of me emotionally internalizing these feelings. Using a fish eye lens perspective, I want to show how compressed these feelings I have are and what the personality of my emotions look like—as if what I truly feel is trying to squeeze its way out for the world to see. The idea behind this piece is to normalize my emotional instability, humanizing the flaws of my feelings and humanizing mental illness.”
– Jalyssa Jimenez