17 May 2013
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help [...]
22 May 2013
By Elizabeth Dorssom I first started referring to myself as a feminist when I was 17. Even though I didn’t identify as a feminist until I was older I was definitely a feminist from a very young age. When I was in elementary school I enjoyed playing with Hot Wheels cars instead [...]
20 May 2013
By Molly Baker On April 23, University of Arizona student Dean Saxton, better known as Brother Dean, stood on a bench brandishing a sign that bluntly stated in bold, black letters “You Deserve Rape.” Saxton proceeded to verbally harass many women that walked by on their way to class, calling them [...]
15 May 2013
By Mohadesa Najumi When I think about what modesty means in today’s political, cultural and religious environment, I am inclined to believe that the concept itself does not involve choice, or any dimension of freedom or independent thought. Rather, modesty constitutes a dictatorial concept forced upon women whether they agree [...]
7 May 2013
*Trigger warning* Sometimes I feel like the NRA is actively just trying to lose all the credibility it has left in this world. Just when you thought the NRA’s annual convention in Houston this weekend couldn’t draw any more negative attention, it goes out and casually promotes a company selling a product [...]
29 Mar 2013
By Monica Torres When I sign my name, it’s Monica, not Mónica. When I order pupusas at my favorite restaurant, the waiter will give my accent an approving nod, as if to say, you’re one of us. But it will only take a harder question for me to reveal the [...]
18 Mar 2013
By Alexa Lambertis At an early age, I was exposed to a woman who essentially changed my life. A sweet lady with a southern background, she was introduced to me as a family friend. I met her in her own home, where we would spend a majority of our time [...]
Assata Shakur has been given many names over the past four decades. Her political allies in the 1970s struggle for black liberation knew her as a comrade and freedom fighter. Ever since her escape from a New Jersey prison and exile in Cuba, she’s become an icon to many on the radical left. Some, mostly critics, still call her by her birth name, Joanne Chesimard. Now the Federal Bureau...
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By Sacchi Patel As I checked my Twitter feed on the morning of Tuesday, April 30, 2013, I expected to find mostly depressing news, as I follow folks who speak out about Violence Against Women. What I found was even more disturbing than I had anticipated. I read several tweets about an “Ex-Girlfriend Target” that bleeds when shot. I clicked links to articles written about this and what I...
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By Kelly Sharron and Abraham Weil Laura Briggs is the chair of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. We had the opportunity to speak with her about her latest book, Somebody’s Children: The Politics of Transracial and Transnational Adoption, an interdisciplinary text that analyzes transracial and transnational adoption, both historically and in the present moment. Somebody’s Children examines relations of power between sending...
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Sarah Mantilla Griffin Charles Ramsey, the hero who recently rescued Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight from a decade of captivity, has become the latest in a new trend of unwitting viral video stars. As Aisha Harris has noted, Ramsey joins Antoine Dodson, Sweet Brown, and Michelle Clark as a YouTube sensation, generating millions of views and various adaptations of his interview with a local media outlet following...
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By Janell Hobson Fifteen years ago, the stardom of then-23-year-old Lauryn Hill had peaked when she released what would become her defining musical legacy. After rising to popularity as part of the hip-hop trio The Fugees, with fellow members Wyclef Jean and Pras, she later released her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which went on to garner multiplatinum sales and five Grammy Awards for the recognizably brilliant...
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Too often, we do not celebrate the extraordinary individuals who, because of their race, gender, and/or socio-economic standing, lived what appeared to be ordinary lives. This year, I am paying homage to my paternal and maternal grandmothers’ lives and legacies. I proudly stand upon the shoulders of my Nanas—Mrs. Rebecca White Simmons Chapman and Mrs. Juanita Cranford Robinson Watson—whose lives were remarkable. My grandmothers grew up in abject poverty...
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By Karen Hernandez Apparently, pursuing Women’s Right’s has led to the downfall of the American diet. At least, this is what Michael Pollan unfairly implies in his 2009 article stating that “ a bit of wisdom that some American feminists thoughtlessly trampled in their rush to get women out of the kitchen.” Pollan has written four books dealing with food and eating; his most recent, Cooked:...
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By Hashim Pipkin I am not a black woman. And unlike many who are not, I do not claim to be able to speak for the quotidian existence of black women in this world. I do not know their interior lives. I do not know the battles their desires must take up daily to keep intact their psychic and emotional survival. But as a brother to a black sister, a...
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By Ynanna Djehuty Latinas in the United States are facing many of the same concerns regarding birthing and reproductive health care as our African-American sisters. As Latinas assimilate into American society, the threads that have kept us connected to our traditions are breaking quickly. For example, Office of Minority Health research states that the infant mortality rate ranges from 4.8 per 1,000 live births for Central and South Americans...
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By Bill Patrick This week brought the startling news of the arrest of Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, the officer in charge of the Air Force’s effort to eliminate sexual assault within the ranks. His reported crime? That he sexually assaulted a woman in a parking lot. The woman fought back and left visible scratches on Krusinki’s face, which can be seen clearly in his mug shot. Hold on. Let...
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By Anis Gisele “Did he hurt you, in a new way?” –Fear and Convenience, Thao Nguyen And you were finally free to call yourself gay. Fifteen years after your mother first asked you, in front of your extended family, in a red-decked Chinese restaurant, if you were a lesbian—and you said no. Four years after you decided you would no longer go to Church—God was the first person you...
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By Nancy Kricorian Back when I earned my MFA in Poetry at Columbia, the majority of the students were women, and nearly all of our teachers were men. They were a distinguished lot, and most took their teaching seriously. They were also, collectively, typically sexist. Work produced by male poets nearly always merited more serious consideration than that of the women. If the reigning ethos among the poetry faculty...
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“There is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single issue lives.” – Audre Lorde Dear Mainstream LGBT Movement, In a recent advertisement for a local “Give Out Day” event, the organization, South Carolina Equality, asserted that only five percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons give money to LGBT causes. As an LGBTQ-identified person and a white ally within anti-racism...
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22 May 2013
By Aditi Rao Dear Mr. Yadav, I too am an Indian Woman “Referring to the recent ‘Slut Walk’ held in the Capital, Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav said we had naked women walking down the streets with tattoos on their cheeks, whereas Indian women did not even look up while [...]
17 May 2013
Assata do not dry like dissipated plums under castro’s bronzing sun you mural fortress you live memorial spirited artifice rouged sea salt that marinates america’s wound Assata you like stripped bone road unaware of which exit is free birth brown coagulated rhythm redefined reborn rumba queen Assata dusk breath [...]
16 May 2013
“Affirmation” by Assata Shakur* ___ I believe in living. I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people. I believe in sunshine. In windmills and waterfalls, tricycles and rocking chairs. And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts. And sprouts grow into trees. I believe in the magic [...]
7 May 2013
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