I go grocery shopping at 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. Well-acquainted with Black church services, I know the ease with which a 12:15 p.m. benediction can be pushed closer to 2:00 p.m. I arrive at my local Stop & Shop just in time to witness a procession of large hats and pastel cardigans, accompanied by the smells of lavender perfume and burnt hair. Slipping into this crowd ensures that my shopping trip will be saturated with the warmth that only older Black women can provide. Baby, do you have the time? Can you grab that sugar on the top shelf for me, darling? Now that’s a pretty dress, honey. I respond in turn. Of course I can, ma’am; That lipstick looks gorgeous on your skin; That skirt is absolutely stunning. I slide the grocery list out of my pocket and smile at these small acts of cultivating each other, this closeness...
To Forage
Gwendolyn Maya Wallace was born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut, and recently graduated with a degree in the history of science and medicine from Yale University. She currently works as a fellow at the International Museum of African-American History in Charleston, South Carolina. Along with her creative nonfiction, she is also the author of two forthcoming picture books. Her art practices and research are based in Black feminisms, community archiving, and ecomemory work. She can usually be found gardening, exploring used bookstores, or listening to the radical impulses of young children.
Gwendolyn Maya Wallace; To Forage. Meridians 1 October 2021; 20 (2): 253–260. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/15366936-9547852
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