Such a Fun Age

by Kiley Reid

Or that when white people compliment her (“She’s so professional. She’s always on time”), it doesn’t always feel good, because sometimes people are gonna be surprised by the fact that she showed up, rather than the fact that she had something to say when she did.

“It completely fetishizes black people in a terrible way,” Tamra went on. “It makes it seem like we’re all the same, as if we can’t contain multitudes of personalities and traits and differences. And people like that think that it says something good about them, that they’re so brave and unique that they would even dare to date black women. Like they’re some kind of martyr.”

Alex was alone, and the one thing she still had was the freedom to follow the narrative that suited her best.

And some days, Emira would carry the dread that if Briar ever struggled to find herself, she’d probably just hire someone to do it for her.