Every week, our weekly magazine The Commuter publishes a new work of flash fiction, poetry, and graphic narrative. For Black History Month, we’re looking to the archives for some of our favorite poetry and stories by Black writers, all available to read for free online. From Tara Campbell’s interactive flow chart of systemic injustice to Anya Pearson’s poems critiquing the hypocrisy of well-meaning white people, these works showcase the range and brilliance of Black storytelling.

“Mixed” by jessica Care moore

Excerpted from her poetry collection We Want Our Bodies Back, jessica Care moore taps into mythologies and ancestries in order to embrace her Blackness. Even as others’ attempt to dismiss her due to her mixedness, her pride in her identity is unflinching and inspiring: “I’m from an army of yellow/black princesses… even if the full-blood family don’t claim us.” The language in moore’s poetry is as evocative as it is precise.

“Caesara Pittman, or a Negress of God” by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

In “Caesara Pittman, or a Negress of God,” award-winning writer Maurice Carlos Ruffin effortlessly brings intimacy and heart to the cold, sterile setting of a courtroom. Even in the face of discrimination, titular character Miss Caesara Pittman acts with assurance and self-respect. Pulled from his collection The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, this short story provides an enticing glimpse into the liveliness of Ruffin’s writing.

“Miranda” by Tara Campbell

To express frustration at the repeated patterns of violence in the American justice system, Tara Campbell turned to form. This hybrid poem takes the shape of a dynamic flow chart; readers can interact and see how the underlying structures of racism affect the flow chart’s possible outcomes. As Campbell puts it, “although each individual in a system thinks they’re making their own choices, they’re only seeing a fraction of the whole, and the eventual outcomes won’t change until the underlying structures change.”

“I want to commercialize your pain” and “This is Portland Theatre” by Anya Pearson

Anya Pearson critiques the commercialization of trauma, racism, and the hypocrisy of well-meaning white people in these two poems. Her short lines force the reader to sit with any discomfort they may be experiencing and confront their own biases. “This is their favorite part. // Devouring blackness. // the closest they will come // to entering blackness.// But still safe enough away // to laugh at // to enjoy the spectacle they make // of our misery.”

“No Chocolate Ice Cream in Stars Hollow” and “For God So Loved the WAP” by Khalisa Rae

Pop culture takes center stage in these poems by Khalisa Rae. Through the lens of Gilmore Girls and Cardi B’s WAP, ft. Megan Thee Stallion, she interrogates white privilege, dating as a Black queer woman, and women’s desire: “What does it mean to push past the splintering / to reclaim the running water of pussy? / To say amen to the faucet spilling coins— / all the pennies you saved to toss and forget. / Now, she has reached a reservoir of fingers / gliding out and in. What is a woman unafraid?”

“On the album cover for Black Gold by Nina Simone” and “The Sound of Blue” by Akhim Alexis

Brooklyn Caribbean Lit Fest Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean winner Akhim Alexis writes with a delicacy that makes you listen. His poems “On the album cover for Black Gold by Nina Simone” and “The Sound of Blue” sing its readers toward new comforts, bringing us to pay closer attention to the smaller, precious details of the musical world.

“Descent” and “Forty-One” by Ajibola Tolase

In his Cave Canem Poetry Prize-winning debut collection, 2000 Blacks, Ajibola Tolase traces the lineage of migration from Nigeria and interrogates Black coming-of-age in a polarized America. These two poems from the collection stand out for their resplendent imagery. The urgent language invites the reader to be immersed in Tolase’s poetic realm.

“When Fire Owns the Air” by Tochukwu Okafor

“When Fire Owns the Air” begins with rumors swiftly spreading through a town, regarding a relationship between two men—Ikenna Anyanwu and Gbenga Afolabi—that the community strongly disapproves of. But as the prospect of violence inches closer, Tochukwu Okafor meets us with tender renderings of the men’s hopes and dreams. The best flash fiction pieces capture entire lifetimes in just a few scenes; in this deftly written story, Okafor accomplishes exactly that.

“Trebuchet” by Avitus B. Carle

This flash fiction begins with a warning from the narrator’s mother: “the reason why all the broken men live on the outskirts of town is for our protection.” Even so, the narrator goes to her grandpa’s cabin to play spies, which leads to a chilling confrontation. Avitus B. Carle demonstrates her mastery at crafting scenes full of tension in this story, just as she does in her flash collection These Worn Bodies. You’ll be on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

“i must tell you” by Roya Marsh

Savings Time, the second collection by Roya Marsh, turns a resolute eye to Black joy and Black rage in equal parts. Her voice is perhaps at its most unflinching in the masterful “i must tell you,” in which Marsh draws similarities between herself and the late Freddie Gray. She demands for her readers to pay attention to racist atrocities rather than turn a blind eye in achingly honest lines: “i must tell you / how blessed we are / to be hashtagged / while breathing.”

“Baby Brother Shape-Up” and “Boardwalk Ambassadors” by Donna Weaver

Donna Weaver’s poems center tenderness — whether it’s a brother growing out his hair for his sister after she receives a cancer diagnosis or an older woman speculating on the joy of girls below her window on a summer afternoon. They brim with hope as she writes, “They hold hands like kindergartners, / pull each other across sidewalks like they’re going somewhere. / An alley behind Dollar General is more adventurous than the boardwalk. // They would find the oceanfront if they just held onto one another.”

“Redondo Beach, 1979” by Carolyn Ferrell

Shawn, the almost-14-year-old, queer narrator of “Redondo Beach, 1979,” is juggling a lot: divorcing parents, a newly-out father, schoolyard bullies. At the center of this narrative is a battle over hair. Shawn’s father believes it should be styled one way, Shawn’s mother another. It’s a rich, coming of age narrative: “Principal Halimah grabbed your arm on the way out: You only have to believe in yourself, she said. The rest will follow.”