K. Ibura

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K. Ibura is a writer, painter, and traveler from New Orleans, Louisiana. The middle child of five, she grew up in a hardscrabble neighborhood with oak and fig trees, locusts and mosquitoes, cousins and neighbors. K. Ibura's work delves into spheres of human liberation, human connection, and evolution. She employs speculative fiction and creative nonfiction to take readers through mind-bending journeys into the transcendent, the mystical, and the fantastic.

Nonfiction

Essay ExcerptCulture // Musings // Race

Race: A discussion in 10 parts plus a few moments of unsubstantiated theory and one inarguable fact…

1. Race is bullshit. A meaningless line drawn in sand by men bent on world domination and oppression. It was introduced as a fixed notion, an unchangeable, undeniable fact of world order. Yet from the moment of race’s conception, the amazing diversity of body types, cultures, and traditions on the African continent alone complicated race’s… »

Essay ExcerptMasculinity // Sexism // Sexual Politics

When Conception Equals Confusion: The Battle Between Mothers and Would-Be Fathers

It happens in silence. A man—young, tall, hooded—sits in a waiting room. All the chairs are taken except the one diagonally across from him. A woman comes in carrying a child. She sits in the only seat available and busies herself removing the child’s coat and hat. The man’s eyes cut to the corner checking… »

EssayForeign Land // Race // Sexism

“There’s No Racism Here?” A Black Woman in the Dominican Republic

When I first returned home from studying abroad, everyone wanted to know, “How was the Dominican Republic?” I was reluctant to respond. Masking the truth behind “fine’s” and “good’s,” I skirted my real feelings. “Did you like it?” is such a loaded question that it can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” For… »

Essay Report Travel WritingForeign Land // Humanity // Musings

Reflections on Fiji - Turn of the Century: December 1999

Fiji is a place that exists on the edge of an East Coaster’s imagination. Maybe for a Californian or some resident of a Pacific Rim nation, Fiji is a familiar neighbor. But for me—a New Yorker—Fiji is worlds away. We don’t share an ocean or a hemisphere, just a dim awareness of each other’s existence…. »

EssayFeminism // Musings // Sexism

No

As a girl, I was put on notice that the world demanded my acquiescence. At 13-, 14-, and 15-years old, my growing hips, legs, and breasts drew stares, leers, and ooh baby’s. I’d cross the street to avoid men’s sexual aggression. Like my friends, I’d lie when pressed for personal information. I’d give out false… »

EssayMasculinity // Sexism // Sexual Politics

A Man’s Response to “Navigating to No”

I got a lot of responses to Navigating to No. There was an avalanche of messages from women telling me their rape and violation stories. The women were Ph.D.s or stay-at-home moms, college students or older women who had never said a word. I got emails from both men and women chastising me for mixing up two… »

EssayFeminism // Sexism // Sexual Politics

Navigating to No

Have you ever given any thought to how you get or give sexual consent? Unless two people walk into a bedroom knowing that they want to have sex, there has to be a point when the question (are we going to have sex?) becomes an answer. How we get from point A to point B… »