“We don’t have as much control as we think we do. And I understand that’s a terrifying realization. The person I think I am now may slip away from me in the next hour. Can I afford to admit this to myself? The world outside our heads can be such a chaotic place, even with the social structures we’ve established to make it less so. Being able to say “this is who I am” when everything else feels uncertain, flimsy, prone to dissolution, may be the greatest comfort we have. Is anything more seductive, more empowering?”

For the third edition of the Long Talk series, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor re-examined what it means to formulate a state.

“Ladan Osman and Safia Elhillo: ‘Intimate Archives and Reimagined Histories’ for Long Talk: Conversations Across Intimate Diasporas”

“Kwame Dawes and Gregory Pardlo: ‘Intimate Archives and Reimagined Histories’ for Long Talk: Conversations Across Intimate Diasporas”