A guide to writing for Un•Veiled Mag.
Welcome to Un•Veiled Magazine
We have one goal at Un•Veiled: to get free. Freedom from capitalism. Freedom from individuality. Freedom from religious indoctrination. Freedom from doing (versus being). Freedom from yt supremacy illusion. Freedom from anti-blackness. Freedom from all the chains that were placed on our ancestors and us.
We believe storytelling is one of the ways we get free. The goal is not to rehash trauma for trauma's sake but to excavate how we as Black people have internalized the illusion of yt supremacy. Naming the beliefs in which we hold (or held) out loud allows for them to lose their power over…
We continue to drive a machine that promises us nothing. When is enough, enough?
I used to declare with pride that I’ve worked since I was fifteen years old. I dabbled in babysitting before then, but my first real checks came from a receptionist job at the nursing home where my mom worked. As soon as my fifteenth birthday rolled around, I applied for my working papers which made it possible to work part-time in New York.
Unlike most teenagers, I actually earned a decent hourly wage of $11.25 but naively quit after a year for freedom away from the watchful eyes of my mom. …
A new publication for Black people dedicated to healing from anti-Blackness and internalized oppression.
All of 2020 was especially hard to sleep, but the month of November took the cake. Six am bedtimes from relentless insomnia made my mind wander over the possibilities for my work.
After a Reiki session weeks prior, I realized I could no longer (and had no desire to) use my precious time to speak to those who seek to oppress me. There’s nothing I can say to make my oppressors see my humanity because they themselves are vacant of humanity.
During one of those early morning insomnia sessions, I saw the ways I’d gotten lost in centering whiteness (again)…
If we let it, COVID-19 might be the greatest teacher of the century.
Dear COVID-19,
This is a first, I’m sure. Only a special kind of person (or a delusional one) would write a letter to an acute respiratory disease that has put the world on its heels.
Well, the fact that you’ve got the world at a halt, this could very well be my personal version of crazy kicking in on day fifteen of quarantine.
To be honest, staying inside isn’t all that bad for me as an introvert, but does feel different as it’s not a choice, but a way of life at the moment.
Personally, I don’t see any silver…
The quicker we unlearn and let go of these stigmas, the faster we can go about saving the lives of Black children.
Two years ago, after Anthony Bourdain died, I shared some words on Instagram about what he meant to me as someone who had an innate pull to see the world and its people.
A follower commented and said, “Suicide is never a solution. He should have fought his nemesis.” To say I was infuriated was an understatement.
This person went on to explain to me that many people followed Anthony and that they may be tempted by suicide because of him.
As much as I felt angry by this persons lack of empathy and miseducation, I felt an immense amount…
Choose wisely.
Hostels can be a hit or miss, and after spending time in almost one hundred of them, I know this to be true.
They’ve made me want to pack my stuff and find a flight home, but after learning my deal-breakers in booking them, my travel experiences, and sleep have improved dramatically.
Consider these six things when booking hostels:
Hot Water
“Hot showers are a blessing” are the five words that I have thought or spoken aloud after taking a shower so hot the steam fogs the mirrors and stings my back unexpectedly.
Not only is hot water a blessing when traveling…
With the rise of Black youth dying by suicide, we need well-funded research that will tell us why and how to stop them.
The suicide rate in America amongst Black youth is increasing rapidly, and we have to ask ourselves why we are not collectively outraged by the preventable deaths of Black children.
In November 2019, a frightening study was released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which concluded that suicide attempts increased 73% among Black children between 1991–2017 and decreased 7.5% among white adolescents.
The study revealed suicide ideation and suicidal plans declined among US adolescents between 1991–2017; however, suicide attempts increased exclusively among Black adolescents.
Black boys between 5 and 11 years old have experienced an increase in suicide deaths…
“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” — Lilla Watson
If there’s one thing I share with pride, it’s that I’m a Gemini. I’m actually a Gemini sun and Gemini rising, which basically means I’m four people in one.
Gemini’s tend to get a bad rap from the other signs with labels such as “crazy” because of our multiple identities. But, the way I see it, we’re able to see and understand issues from all angles because of our varying perspectives.
Problems are never black and white for a Gemini, and this varied way of thinking, I believe, has its benefits and allows me to study issues around justice and…
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be seen. We’re human.
I will be the first to tell you I have no desire to be famous. The thought alone sends me into the most intense sweats and makes me want to run and hide. I honestly don’t know how celebs do it.
I still get uneasy when pitching major publications because “Oh my God, what if this is the piece that catapults me so far, and I can’t turn back”?
It’s such a funny thing to be a writer. I want to write a bestseller one day, maybe even five, but I don’t want the press that may come with it.
…
Capitalism does not reward emotional intelligence in men.
My longest relationship to date was four years and ended in 2016. In hindsight, we should have parted ways many times through the years, but we convinced ourselves that dysfunction and toxicity was love.
Throughout our time together, I always found myself reading relationship advice columns, blogs, and books to better our relationship.
After an argument or fight, I would go down the rabbit hole of how I could be and do better. I sent him an infinite amount of articles while we were both at work for him to read and learn alongside me.
We even had one couples…
