Emily Perper is a freelance editor and reporter, currently completing a service year in Baltimore with the Episcopal Service Corps.

1. “Two Decades After Crown Heights, What’s It Like to Be Black and Orthodox Jewish?” (Wayne Lawrence & Molly Langmuir, New York magazine, December 2012)

A gorgeous blend of photography and personal testimony give this piece on black Orthodox Jews its power.

2. “I Am Trans, and I am Beautiful: Haley.” (R.L. Stollar, Homeschoolers Anonymous, May 2013)

The conservative Christian evangelical homeschooling community can be a world of harsh legalism. Here, Haley relates her story of nonconformity for Homeschoolers Anonymous, a blog that shares stories of struggle and abuse within this subculture.  

3. “Muslim Women Converts Tell of Hijab Dilemmas, Family Rows and Negative Portrayal of Faith.” (Jessica Elgot, Huffington Post Religion, May 2013)

Elgort’s piece shares some of the The New Muslims Project study, in which subjects of all races and ages shared the beauty and pain of conversion to Islam.

4. “PK.” (Mary Mann, The Rumpus, January 2013)

Mann on her coming of age as the daughter of an Episcopal priest.

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