Start Here!
A Welcome Note from THIRD SPACE by Marley E. Dias
Welcome to THIRD SPACE—where memory holds weight, Black girlhood stretches beyond the margins, and every sentence carries a little resistance.
This isn’t just a newsletter. It’s a living archive. A personal-political reckoning. A space to speak plainly and sharply about the things we’re told to forget.
Here, I write about the systems that shape us—school, art, wealth, grief, gender, power—and the stories that might set us free. Some pieces are soft. Some are sharp. All of them are honest.
Whether you found your way here through a banned book list, a late-night scroll, or divine accident: I’m glad you made it.
🧡 Read These First
If you’re new, start with these core pieces. They carry the voice, the vision, and the quiet rebellion this space is built on.
From Legacy to Liability: The Crisis of Capitalist Imitation Among Black Women in Power
The Price of the Tiffany Diamond: A New Dilemma
THE COST OF COOL
This piece took weeks of research, writing, and early-morning editing sessions—between work, life, and staying cool in this July heat. If you value THIRD SPACE and want to help sustain this longform, deeply reported, Black-centered writing, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid readers keep this platform alive. And they help me cover the software subscriptions, the archive fees, the midnight lattes, and the moments of doubt it takes to finish essays like this.
🏠 What You’ll Find Here
Cultural Critique: The intersections of capitalism, race, gender, and power—told with teeth.
Black Art Spotlights: Deep dives into the work of artists who haunt, honor, and imagine otherwise.
Personal Essays: Reflections on grief, growth, joy, trauma, and girlhood. Unapologetically felt.
Literary Commentary: On books that made me. On words that won’t let me go.
Subscribe, Stay, Say Something
If this feels like something you’ve been missing—subscribe.
If it feels like a conversation you’re ready to join—say something.
THIRD SPACE belongs to all of us who never quite fit into the boxes.
This is our room. Our record. Our refusal.
Welcome in.
—Marley