There is literally shit on the walls of the bathroom. There’s no seat on the stainless steel toilet bowl, no paper holder, nothing that could be removed and used as a weapon or to hurt yourself. Not even soap. I’ve visited multiple prisons, but this emergency room at Western Psych is worse. A guard… Read More Suicide Safe-Tea Plan
With a sizable chunk of the country focused this weekend on whether professional football players would take a knee or not during the national anthem, the above photo popped up on my Facebook feed. Posted by my friend and colleague, the incredible Pittsburgh Public School librarian Sheila May-Stein, she explained: Last night my mostly African-American,… Read More Why This Sign is Racist
The recent discussion of the Stephen Foster sculpture in Oakland raises much-needed questions, such as: How should we deal with race and racism in public art? What is cultural appropriation and who should be honored in our public spaces? We should also be asking: Where are all the women, especially women of color? Public art… Read More 7 Statue-Ready Women of Color
In my social media networks and among the students I work with, I frequently hear concerns about the “failure of feminism,” the lack of intersectionality in “mainstream feminism,” and the disconnect between “white feminism” and the lived reality of far too many women. Some have said feminism is dead or irrelevant; others worry that demonstrations… Read More This is What Feminism Looks Like
Students in Pittsburgh are settling into the new school year with an updated policy allowing them to use facilities that match their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth. If terms such as “gender identity,” “sex assigned at birth,” or “cis-gender” are unfamiliar, here’s your quick Sex & Gender 101 primer. First, sex… Read More Sex and Gender 101
A transphobic bathroom bill in North Carolina … a similar bill squashed at the last minute in Georgia … and Transgender Day of Visibility this week … all have me thinking about the relationship between “visibility” and “violence.” When is visibility empowering? When is it dangerous? Whose safety is at the center of concern and… Read More Visibility and Violence
This week the women of Saturday Night Live, joined by musical guest Ariana Grande, tried to write a song about feminism, decided it was too hard, gave up, but then wrote one anyway. I’ll admit, I laughed out loud the first time I watched it. Then I watched it again and got sad, irritated, angry,… Read More This is Not a Feminist Song
Last week President Obama made his first visit to an American mosque. Speaking at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, he emphasized the values of religious freedom, tolerance, and inclusion, telling young people: “If you’re ever wondering whether you fit in here, let me say it as clearly as I can, as President of the United… Read More Inclusion, Solidarity, and … Hijab?
For women, one little word – “no” – can be very dangerous. Janese Talton-Jackson, 29 and the mother of three, is dead because she said that word to a man who was interested in her. He followed her out of a Homewood club early Friday morning and pumped a round from a shotgun into her… Read More For Women, “No” is a Dangerous Word
Instead of counting down the days in December until the 25th as my kids do most years, last month our household was counting down to the 18th – the day of the new Star Wars release, of course. Without spoilers, here’s a one word summary: AWESOME. Now with spoilers: Really, it was epically awesome. On… Read More It’s a Whole New (Old) Star Wars
