I rarely tweet these days (read: past 5 years), so I know when I do it gets lost in the ether, but I really want you to read this one, please and thank you

You should make this piece I did for ESPN (about opera, boxing, masculinity, sexuality, transformation, redemption) your weekend read: espn.com/boxing/story/_…

I recently became a father. When @AmyRosary asked if I could write some thoughts about that, I was glad to have the space to explore some of the feelings (and fears) I’ve had, which turned into this piece for SELF: self.com/story/new-fath…

For ESPN's "Hip-Hop 50" series, I wrote about Jay Z, Michael Jordan, and how it's the story (true or not) that shapes how we talk about who's the greatest espn.com/nba/story/_/id…

Excellent essay by the always insightful Mychal Denzel Smith 👊🏾

i had a three-day text message conversation with Mychal Denzel Smith. we talked Ninja Turtles, family, writing and more: timbarnescomedy.substack.com/p/text-intervi…

Palestinians are not begging anyone to acknowledge our humanity. It is the world's we are questioning.

protests of an ongoing genocide shouldn't be peaceful anyway

I have an essay coming out in the fall issue of The Believer and I think you should subscribe to The Believer so you can get it in print and read it there

“After a year of big feelings, I needed a way back to thinking.” —from “Scholar's Mate,” Mychal Denzel Smith's forthcoming essay on how chess helped him through a period of grief following the loss of his mother Subscribe to read the full essay in our fall issue.

For everybody who didn’t realize The Believer was back in action, Mychal Denzel Smith’s “Scholar’s Mate” this issue is one of the best pieces in recent memory. Perfect composition, hard-hitting, weaving art and insight and yearning - the best of what an essay can be.

"On February 4, 2023, my daughter was born; then on October 1, my mother died from leukemia. It has taken the exact emotional toll it sounds like it would." This essay, in the fall issue of The Believer, was my attempt to recover some sense of myself. thebeliever.net/scholars-mate/

“Even when my position is hopeless, I play as if I still have a chance to win. My mother wasn’t wrong when she said I was stubborn. Something else for me to work on.” —from “Scholar’s Mate,” an essay by Mychal Denzel Smith thebeliever.net/scholars-mate/

“But this ritual does exactly what I want it to do, which is to stimulate the part of my brain left dormant after my mother’s death, and in a low-stakes way.” —from “Scholar’s Mate,” an essay by Mychal Denzel Smith thebeliever.net/scholars-mate/

“After a year of big feelings, I needed a way back to thinking.” —from “Scholar’s Mate,” an essay by Mychal Denzel Smith thebeliever.net/scholars-mate/

“I believed myself to be capable of thinking and writing my way out of any emotional logjam, because that is what I had always done, who I had always been.” —from “Scholar’s Mate,” an essay by Mychal Denzel Smith thebeliever.net/scholars-mate/

Moved over to the other one, actually posting things, but don’t expect anything too profound bsky.app/profile/mychal…