“My sister and I were once in the Child Welfare System so the death of Tina Fontaine struck me personally.” At Tea&Bannock, guest blogger Kailey Arthurson’s poem calls us to defend the sacred, to defend the children.

Betty Ann Adam recounts her experiences as a child of the “’60s Scoop” — a period which spanned 30 years in Canada — where Indigenous children were removed from their families in a government-sanctioned bid to “remove the Indian from the child.”

Sarah reflects on a complicated history she refuses to repeat. “I can tell you that I loved my grandmother deeply, and yet most of the tears I’ve shed over her death were for myself, because I wished that she were different.”

Sean Thomas Dougherty remembers Toledo, Ohio, in the late 1970s: “We were the color of food stamps and free lunch, blue denim and wide lapels.”

As the writer’s success as an author grew and grew, so did the abuse at home — until finally, she left the man who she loved, but who couldn’t allow her to succeed.

At Granta, Marian Ryan pens a longform essay on rationalizing abuse, the vulnerability of the body, the failures of compassion, and being stalked on Facebook.

Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman’s “Advanced Placement” is a course on deconstructing abuse: “Do you want to die? He asks you over and over again.”

“It stops today, I swear. Right after I finish this glass.” Danielle Dayney confronts alcoholism.

“I easily grew distracted, drawn into thoughts of Kashechewan. Each memory triggered anxiety, anger and guilt.” Alexandra Shimo suffered PTSD after researching her book, Invisible North: The Search For Answers on a Troubled Reserve.

In the wake of the leaked audio of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault, Transparent creator Jill Soloway discusses how men turn women into Others, and other men into accomplices.

Lisa Lim’s stepfather abducted her sister: “There was one mistress my mother called Saint Lena who swelled with compassion for my mother. She told Mohammed that if he didn’t give my mother back her daughter, they were over.”

“He loves me when he’s sober, when there are no bootleggers.” Dan Branch reflects on being a domestic lawyer in Alaska.