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 [...]
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 [...]
13 May 2013
By Kristen Reynolds As I sit here on the eve of my graduation, cataloging what I’ve learned over the last few years as a Black woman coming into (what I hope is) consciousness – I feel a great deal of shame. Shame and, if I am going to be incredibly honest, [...]
10 May 2013
By Alyssa Gockley Several weeks ago, Bucknell University published its weekly campus newspaper. While just about every edition of The Bucknellian has some article or opinion piece that makes you raise an eyebrow or shake your head, this particular week’s paper contained something that sparked outrage across campus. There was [...]
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 [...]
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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By Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz Have you read Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis and Movement Building Strategy by Chris Crass yet? Well, if you haven’t gotten around to it, put it on your reading list STAT! I don’t often agree to do book reviews. Because I have dyslexia, it takes me a long time to make my way through a book. Then when I get around to writing a...
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You might already know that a series of racist behaviors toward Black people recently brought national attention to University of California, Irvine’s (UCI) campus. A recent video by Lambda Theta Delta (LTD), UCI’s oldest Asian American interest fraternity, showed its members participating in a party involving racist blackface. The video was used for rush recruitment, briefly introducing the fraternity to people the fraternity wanted to impress. It was a...
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By Jawahara Saidullah “Kya maal hai.” What good stuff. “Bilkul sahi cheez yaar.” Absolutely, great stuff, man. Maal means, stuff, thing, or merchandise. So does cheez. This common male conversation on the streets of North India is usually conducted over-loudly so that the ‘stuff’ being talked about can hear it. It is almost always accompanied by laughter, a leer, perhaps some touching. For the stuff being talked about is...
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High stakes test question: A female science student conducts an experiment with chemicals that explodes in a classroom, causes no damage and no injuries. Who gets to be the adventurous teenage genius mad scientist and who gets to be the criminal led away in handcuffs facing two felonies to juvenile hall? If you’re a white girl check Box A, if you’re an intellectually curious black girl with good grades...
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By Kimberly Dark I had a moment of judgment toward my potential seatmate as I walked up the airplane aisle and saw him. I wasn’t pleased to be having that feeling and there it was – immediate and unbidden. I was concerned I’d be uncomfortable sitting next to such a big guy on the airplane. Well, it was a short flight – Hilo to Maui. No need to get...
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By Tanwi Nandini Islam Let’s begin with a riddle: What’s something that exhausts itself, yet never disappears? A few answers: Self. Others. Identity. Love. I’m channeling the Sphinx, posing a riddle to reveal matters of livelihood and death, the necessity of sifting through the ways our identities brush up against one another, inevitably hurting, teaching, and transforming consciousness. Our personal articulations of self are constantly mediated by our own actions,...
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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 [...]
16 May 2013
for Assata Amira Nakati Carter-Goff on her tenth birthday call down the name freedom call up the spirit of no matter what now call your shared name liberation veins steel will fierce focus shielding sacred smile laugh your own name radiant as cuba laugh your yawning name into language [...]
7 May 2013
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