Over the last five years, I’ve reviewed all the case files of murdered children with a pending Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigation. In November 2017, I sat in on the murder trial of the stepfather of a young boy. In March 2020, I appeared in a Netflix docuseries about the case, The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. It became clear to me, this is about more than just one murder, and there’s more than just one culprit. My creative dissertation: The Redacted: is a critical experiment concerned with child fatalities within LA County’s foster care system. I am also a former ward of LA County.
For the dis/rupted voter, McSweeneys
How Angeles Crest Creamery Are Recovering After Bobcat Fire, LAist
Hansel and Gretel In L.A. County, NYRB
The Archive, Paris Review
The Forgotten Babies, Alta Magazine
The Cold Violence of Compliance, adi magazine
Where The Light Is Different, NYRB
Honey Bees, Worker Bees, and the Economic Violence of Landgrabs, Longreads
Now Is The Time For Equity Journalism, lithub
This Wanting Business: On The Cost of Labor and Writing, Lithub
Literary Ambition. Fabulous Parties. A Hidden Past. Who Is Anna March?, L.A. Times
The Food Of My Youth, NYRB
Counting To A Hundred, NYRB
The Wounded Parts of People, Shondaland
The Human Cost of The Ghost Economy, Longreads
Discovering The Radical Possibility of Love, Shondaland
Feminist Fiction From the Philippines, Written Fifty Years Ago, NYTBR
Mothers Who Leave Their Children, lithub
The Destructive Force of Rebuild L.A. , Curbed
Why Casino Driven Development is a Roll of the Dice, Citylab
If You’re In The Fight, Get Ready To Do The Work, DAME
On Payment, BLARB
Every Year The Tree, Lenny Letter
The Readiness Assessment, Proximity Magazine (contest 2nd Runner up)
Inside A South LA Union Hall, Zocalo Public Square
The Gay Rodeo: Stories From Inside the Scene, KQED
The Girl In The Cabinet (I Read What You Wrote And I Hate You), Electric Literature
“Who Gets To Break The Rules In America,” Jezebel and EHRP
The Animal In Us: A Collaboration with Lauren Eggert-Crowe for Women Who Submit
Vidaweb Report From The Field: Aswang
Resilience Is Futile: How Well-Meaning Nonprofits Perpetuate Poverty (Jezebel and EHRP)
“Submission Blitz: Finding Courage At A Writer’s Conference,” Poets & Writers
“How Fostering Resilience Keeps Low Income Communities Down,” Al Jazeera America
“Is It Worth Risking Women’s Pregnancies For Your Flight To Be On Time?,” The Guardian
“The Secret Lives of Airport Workers,” Jezebel
“Is a Joke Just A Joke When It Causes Real Pain?,” dame magazine
“How to Grieve For A Life That Never Began,” Buzzfeed
“Ask The Freelancer,” ongoing column at daily dot
“Drop Me Off The Cliff,” The Rumpus
“Home/Ward,” Tin House blog
“I Prayed My Mom Would Leave,” Salon
“Banks Booting Families and Leaving Homes to Rot:..” Alternet
“Here We Are Becoming Champs” The Rumpus
“Hunger Strikes, Marches, and More,..” Alternet
“Diva Boy,” The Nervous Breakdown
“The Dress Doesn’t Make The Priest,” The Rumpus
“It’s No Longer a Secure Place to Work,” Alternet
“The Throwaways,” The Rumpus