Open in app
Home
Notifications
Lists
Stories

Write
Marquisele Mercedes
Marquisele Mercedes

Home

About

Pinned

How to Recenter Equity and Decenter Thinness in the Fight for Food Justice

You can’t say no one ever told you how. — While working in public health and around other professionals concerned about the existence of food deserts, or food apartheid as coined by activist Karen Washington, I’ve been struck by the ongoing alliance between those who advocate for food equity and those who consider themselves soldiers in the ongoing “war on…

Pineapple 2021

6 min read

How to Recenter Equity and Decenter Thinness in the Fight for Food Justice
How to Recenter Equity and Decenter Thinness in the Fight for Food Justice

Published in Human Parts

·Pinned

Fat Girls of Color Grow Up Too Fast

We lose our childhoods in a million different ways — When I was 11, the most stressful place on Earth was the Flynn O’Hara store near Westchester Square. It was the only retail store that sold the uniforms I needed for my brief stint in Catholic school. Flynn O’Hara was the place where my mom usually realized I had gone…

Equality

5 min read

Fat Girls of Color Grow Up Too Fast
Fat Girls of Color Grow Up Too Fast

Apr 9, 2021

In-Person School Isn’t Safe Until It’s Safe for Students of Color

At least pretend like our deaths matter to you. — When the Centers for Disease Control altered their operational recommendations for K-12 schools in March, they included new recommendations like “revised physical distancing recommendations to reflect at least 3 feet”, signaling movement towards a full-scale re-opening of US schools. Alongside these recommendations is a section called “health equity considerations”, which…

Schools

5 min read

In-Person School Isn’t Safe Until It’s Safe for Students of Color
In-Person School Isn’t Safe Until It’s Safe for Students of Color

Mar 1, 2021

The Crippling Weight of Stigma: A Closer Look at a 2012 “Anti-Obesity” Campaign

It’s a special case study in how public health authorities do harm. — In January 2012, the New York City Health Department promoted a controversial “anti-obesity” campaign that was meant to bring attention to the dangers of “super-sized” portions commonly found in fast food restaurants and convenience stores, which are described as having grown over time. One image in particular was described as…

Pineapple 2021

7 min read

The Crippling Weight of Stigma: A Closer Look at a 2012 “Anti-Obesity” Campaign
The Crippling Weight of Stigma: A Closer Look at a 2012 “Anti-Obesity” Campaign

Mar 1, 2021

Breaking Up With Mom Is Hard to Do

I didn’t know how bad things were until I did. — I first met my husband’s parents six weeks into our relationship. It was Christmas. Our friends turned into the trees along the road to get to a warmly lit home with two people waiting on the porch for their son. I stalled around the trunk of the rental car with…

Pineapple 2021

6 min read

Breaking Up With Mom Is Hard to Do
Breaking Up With Mom Is Hard to Do

Feb 28, 2021

Chouchou, or Why We Had My Brother-In-Law Cremated

Sometimes, the best way to honor someone is to go against tradition. — If you’re poor and you die in the Dominican Republic, your body is typically displayed in your house for one day. People come to view you as you decompose in the humid heat until you absolutely must be buried. They pray over you and with your family, often for hours…

Pineapple 2021

7 min read

Chouchou, or Why We Had My Brother-In-Law Cremated
Chouchou, or Why We Had My Brother-In-Law Cremated

Published in BeingWell

·Jan 31, 2021

Burn Down the “Healthcare Hero” Ideal

Stop calling healthcare workers “heroes”. Too many of us have gone unsaved. — The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a resurgence of admiration for the healthcare workers who are faced with overcrowded hospitals, scarcity of personal protection equipment, and just generally unsafe working conditions. It seems natural that the “healthcare hero” ideal would re-emerge during a time when hospitals are under the spotlight as…

Equality

4 min read

Burn Down the “Healthcare Hero” Ideal
Burn Down the “Healthcare Hero” Ideal

Published in GEN

·Jan 22, 2021

How Long Must We Wait for a New America?

While you celebrate the new administration, so many of us are still waiting. It is cruel, but usual punishment. — I spent many childhood days in a Bronx welfare office a few feet away from the bustling shops on Fordham Road. The office was in a cement building painted over with gray paint. If you weren’t looking for the metal door that opened into the waiting area, you wouldn’t find…

Politics

4 min read

How Long Must We Wait for a New America?
How Long Must We Wait for a New America?

Published in An Injustice!

·Jan 17, 2021

No, I Am Not “Dressing for Myself” During a Pandemic

Clothes are about more than just feeling good, white feminists — The last thing you should have to worry about when a loved one is hospitalized is how you look when you show up to be at that person’s bedside. And yet. Not long ago, I rushed back to the Bronx for a medical emergency. It was/is the kind of emergency…

Fashion

6 min read

No, I Am Not “Dressing for Myself” During a Pandemic
No, I Am Not “Dressing for Myself” During a Pandemic

Nov 30, 2020

Our Fat Bodies Are Not Your Metaphors

A look at reactions to Gabourey Sidibe’s engagement reveal a frustrating, persisting reality: when good things happen to fat people, the world doesn’t know how to act. — I once had a conversation on campus with a few fellow graduate students about the upcoming weekend. I, like every other weekend, was going to spend time with my husband and pretend that I was in no way affiliated with an academic entity. …

Fat Acceptance

7 min read

Our Fat Bodies Are Not Your Metaphors
Our Fat Bodies Are Not Your Metaphors
Marquisele Mercedes

Marquisele Mercedes

Catch me on patreon.com/marquisele or on Instagram @fatmarquisele

Following
  • Allison Gaines

    Allison Gaines

  • Andrew Ricketts

    Andrew Ricketts

  • Vena Moore

    Vena Moore

  • Rachael Hope

    Rachael Hope

  • Ezinne Ukoha

    Ezinne Ukoha

Help

Status

Writers

Blog

Careers

Privacy

Terms

About

Knowable