Read Letters

Dear Haters…

Dear Haters,   This letter is for you. For the people who see my efforts and hear the cries of millions of other individuals, yet stand by on the sidelines finding the faults in our stars, I mean, struggles.   … Read more

Querida Hermanita…

Querida hermanita, It’s June 2023, you are about to walk across that stage and soon you’ll be off to college. I remember when you were a little girl, you were so curious to explore the world (back then your curiosity … Read more

Dear AIWA,

Dear Aiwa, Your speakers are of the utmost quality. The bass that vibrates the floor, the sound that echoes around the room. The memories I have created through you blessing my ears are unquantifiable. I still remember the first song … Read more

Dear “Sustainable” Fashion…

Dear “Sustainable” Fashion, I really want to support you. On the surface, it seems like your ideas, mission, and values are all in the right place. You are trying to help one of the most capitalistic, profit driven, environmentally damaging … Read more

Dear Normalcy…

Dear Normalcy, I’ve longed for you for much of the year and only recently learned I don’t want you anymore. It took losing you in such a dramatic fashion with the onset of this pandemic to realize you have been … Read more

Dear Black and White Communities at UNC…

Dear Black and White Communities at UNC,   Am I the only one who feels that they are constantly at war with themselves? Feeling like they have to choose a side? Feeling like they have to choose between black and … Read more

Dear Science…

Dear Science, This is a love letter. But love is not uncomplicated. So bear with me as I discover my feelings for you as I write them down. This is a love letter. Science, you captured me in third grade, … Read more

A Letter to Pink Mush

Dear Brain, Wallowing in my skull with nothing yet everything to still do. On constant alert but in the threshold of consciousness day and night. How have you not physically exploded by now? I wish there was an easier way … Read more

Dear Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools…

Dear Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools, I feel as if I have been intending to write this letter for years now. Perhaps it is a bit on the nose to choose to write directly to my school district after taking … Read more

Dear Declaration of Independence…

Dear Declaration of Independence, I grew up thinking you truly believed all men were created equal. It’s clear I was wrong. How can you claim that everyone is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness when the people … Read more

To the Church…

Dear Church, Oh, the countless hours that I’ve spent thinking about the ways you have hurt me and persecuted my body. The waking nights that I have cried in the quiet comfort of my room thinking about the damage you … Read more

Dear Latinx Communidad…

Dear Latinx Communidad, These last four years have been a struggle for all of us, but it feels like the year 2020 has really pained us the most. In fact, it is just now the beginning to change and fight … Read more

Dear Whiteness…

Dear Whiteness, When I was a child I you gave me the privilege of not recognizing you. I lived in a world that was simple and easy. This was at least how I perceived it before I recognized you. However, … Read more

Dear Greek Life at UNC

Dear Greek Life at UNC, Y’all are so fucking annoying, in almost every aspect. We will always have beef, but I don’t think any one specific action has enraged me more than your response to this pandemic. In the beginning … Read more

Dear Socks…

Dear Socks, You are not much. Just some cloth wrapped in a column. Sometimes bent if we’re getting fancy. You can be colorful or fuzzy or unique. You can be professional and utilitarian. At the end of the day, though, … Read more

Dear College Expectations…

Dear College Expectations, Where do I begin with you. I don’t even know when you and I started to get to know each other. I flirted with you a little bit before I started college, but things didn’t start to … Read more

Dear Mother Earth…

Dear Mother Earth, I hope we have not disappointed you too much. Times were so much more simple when we were younger. Now, I write to you concerned. You have given us everything we could need and we turned our … Read more

You Were Created Centuries Ago (Dear Electoral College…)

Dear Electoral College, You were created centuries ago, rooted in prejudice and racism, and you have not evolved to fit our current social and political landscape. Your delegates were originally apportioned to the South based on population numbers that included … Read more

Dear Face Mask…

Dear Face Mask, I wake up to see you lying next to my bed, can’t leave your side for the whole day, and only say good bye to you when the day is over and I’m home. But today when I … Read more

Dear Desk Chair…

Dear Desk Chair, We’ve now been together for 244 days. That’s 5856 hours, or 351,360 minutes. Any way you put it it’s been a long ass time (pun intended). I sit on you for several hours on end since there … Read more

Dear America…

Dear America, As I write this letter, I think about all that I have learned about you through my education. From singing the “Star Spangled Banner” in Kindergarten to first learning about racism in my 8th grade social studies class … Read more

Large Hot Hazelnut Coffee…no cream, no sugar.

Dear a large hot hazelnut coffee at Panera with no cream or sugar, Every morning, I wake up at 8 am as my alarm loudly blares Blank Space by Taylor Swift.  I roll over to turn it off and open … Read more

If you don’t neatly belong…

Dear Answer Bubble, As I write this I think back to all the forms I’ve filled out with those tiny, oval-shaped answer bubbles. Whether it’s for the SAT, a voting ballot, or a simple survey I’ve always had a strange … Read more

Green Tea and Lemonade

*content warning: eating disorder culture, eating disorder, discussion of weight, food*       Dear green tea and lemonade, I remember the day Ms. Martin pulled us out into the hallway to tell us of your magical powers, all of … Read more

For All Kind?

Dear UNC’s “For All Kind,” I used to believe you were real.  That the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) was for all kind. After all, I’m here, my parents and grandparents went here, and now my sister is … Read more

Dearest Pride Pin…

                    Dearest Pride Pin, We met a little over a year ago, on October 11, 2019.  For many queer people, this is a monumental day, as it is known as National … Read more

Stereotyping: The Insect Fighting Against Justice

Dear Stereotypes, There are a lot of things I am mad at in the world: mosquitos, gnats, ants, and relatively any insect, to name a few. Yet, I think I am mad at you the most. It has taken me … Read more

Dear Higher Education…

Dear Higher Education, Do you really want the best and brightest? Sometimes it seems like you only want the richest and whitest. You are supposed to offer such a benefit to this world – education is touted as the key … Read more

Dear Birth Certificate…

Dear Birth Certificate,   From the day I left the hospital, you were a sheet of paper that defined who I was. My name, my weight, my height, my age, hair color, my sex and my race-you have all my … Read more