Category Archives: Joy Ellison

lion

Lion-Hearted | Joy Ellison

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Editors note: Names have been changed to protect the safety of the people of At-Tuwani. When I returned home after three years working in Palestine, people told me that I was brave. I wished they would stop. In Palestine, I wasn’t brave so much as confused. The Israeli military occupation of Palestine is baffling. Palestinian homes are demolished for not having building permits, even though it is well known that the Israeli army refuses to issue permits. Pregnant Palestinian women […]

Categories: Joy Ellison, Story Club South Side

A Donkey Shit Christmas | Joy Ellison

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“I cannot believe,” I announce to my mother and father from the back seat of the car, “that there will be a live donkey at church today.” We are driving to the small Quaker meetinghouse my family has attended for nearly two decades. When I was a child, I was a wise man in the pageant for three years running. I wore a maroon choir robe, a paper crown, and a garland of crumbled tinsel, saved and reused like it really […]

Categories: Essay Fiesta, Joy Ellison

Results Inconclusive | Joy Ellison

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My father was a good man, so he wanted the best for his daughter. When my parents banned Barbie, it was Dad who was behind it. The rules of Barbie were complicated. When my aunt and uncle gave me a Barbie doll for my birthday, my parents solemnly placed her in a box, put that box on the highest shelf in my closet, and told me I could have her when I was 16 years old. On the other hand, […]

Categories: Joy Ellison, Story Club South Side