“I liked him until he started acting Black,” she said, talking about me. “Acting Black? He is Black,” said my friend. Days prior: I had joined my friend’s Thanksgiving. Her cousin and I instantly connected, having deep conversations about E.E. cummings, Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni. “I wish you could come talk to my students,” she said. Later, driving to a play, I put Big Sean on repeat. We sang along — screamed, actually — with the windows down. The next day I asked my friend about her cousin. Upon learning she considered listening to rap “acting Black,” I figured it best to move on. — Darian Lane

Positively Purging-I welcome your feedbacks in the comments and your likes and passing the real life wisdom on to others as I embark on this new venture of “positively purging”, as I know each of these pieces represents something…