Creative Writing Professor on 'Vex Money,'' Love, and Self-Preservation – Rutgers Newark

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In this New York Times essay, Creative Writing professor Naomi Jackson writes about the Carribbean tradition of women putting aside “vex money.” She explores what it says about love, trust and self preservation. Read the full story here. 
 
“Vex money. Noun. Origin: Anglophone Caribbean. Meaning: money stashed on your person or in a secret place (a brassiere, a bank account, your grandmother’s Bible, your sneakers). To be spent only in case of emergency brought upon by a once stable situation suddenly becoming vexed — usually but not always because of a man. See: the need for a swift exit in response to the threat of sexual assault. See also: the dissolution of a relationship, the loss of a job or being displaced from your home. Related to but not the same as the threat often uttered by an Afro-Caribbean woman: “Don’t get me vex.” Or “She/he/they get me vex, get me on my nerves.’ “
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