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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 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...
Read more »
By Lynn Gehl − Gii-Zhigaate-Mnidoo-Kwe Recently I stated that unless “we” stand behind the person who is most oppressed, “we” will not gain the genuine solidarity needed. This is because the more oppressed person needs to know that when the more privileged person gets what s/he needs, that s/he will continue to stand behind...
Read more »
By Stacia Penn I am a young black American living in Colombia. My life in Medellin has been a multi-faceted privilege, affording me access to spaces and ways of knowing that I would otherwise not have access to in the United States. In one sense, it has been a privilege to live abroad and...
Read more »
Mr. Prime Minister: I read today that you were “disturbed” about the rape of another child in Delhi, a five-year-old girl. My question to you is: just how “disturbed” are you? What does the rape of a five-year-old female child make you feel? Do you sit in your plush office and shake your head...
Read more »
A few days before my Facebook News Feed was flooded with red equal signs, I went to a short march in Bangalore. The Gender and Sexual Minorities Pride March demanded, among other things, “human rights and overall development” of a range of sexual minorities, focusing on the right to be included on the electoral...
Read more »
By Ren Jender “She must have been miserable,” one of my Facebook “friends” wrote as a kind of eulogy for Margaret Thatcher. I had to disagree. Margaret Thatcher, before she began to suffer from dementia, had, in every recorded moment of her political career (as well as her writing after that career was over)...
Read more »
By Mazuba Haanyama My central aim involves the politics of bodily performance, in negotiation with shifting realities of a post-Apartheid context, where constructions of gender, race and class are both mobile and stagnant… This project critically engages the role of popular culture in influencing youth cultures. In a context such as South Africa, such...
Read more »
By Mohadesa Najumi Femen is a feminist protest group founded in 2008, based in Ukraine. They received international recognition due to their direct and somewhat extreme methods of action. They engage in topless demonstrations, and protests outside of religious institutions and international marriage agencies, while pushing their ideology of the women’s sexual liberation, ‘sextremism’, to the forefront. Their goal...
Read more »
By Nilofar Ansher Does choosing to take on your husband’s name play into the patriarchal injunctions against women’s selfhood? What follows are questions re: notions of love and whether or not these ideas help cement the tropes of traditions, in this case, of marital name change. One of the oft-rehearsed but exciting conversations that my...
Read more »
Ring the Bell: One million men. One million promises is a movement that encourages men across the globe to make concrete, actionable promises to combat violence against women. Launch events recently took place in New York, New Delhi, Rio, Johannesburg, Stockholm, and Kathmandu. The campaign gained tremendous attention in the press and on social media. Tens of thousands read about...
Read more »
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
7 May 2013
30 Apr 2013
25 Apr 2013
20 Apr 2013
