Too “Politically Correct”?: Why It Matters for Comedy To Punch Up Instead of Down July 12, 2019 by Louisa Leontiades Leave a Comment For a large portion of my childhood, I believed that the Spanish were incapable fools, the Germans were evil dogmatists, and the French were bumbling, puffed-up nincompoops. Given these attitudes, it can come as little surprise that I'm English and grew up with comedy that relentlessly mocked foreigners, the upper classes, the lower classes, the disabled, the neuroatypical, the … [Read more...]
#CloseTheCamps: No 4th of July While Children Die July 3, 2019 by Shannon Weber Leave a Comment On July 2nd, I participated in a #CloseTheCamps rally demanding that the illegal concentration camps for undocumented children and their families -- with 71% of migrants being held in for-profit facilities as of November 2017 -- be shut down. I stood on the sidewalk of a local park with about 60 other protesters as we held signs and rattled noisemakers, chanting and begging our … [Read more...]
Why Trans Womanhood Is Not for Cis Women to Define June 17, 2019 by xoài pham, Guest Writer Leave a Comment When I first heard that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had said something unsavory about trans women back in 2017, I avoided the news. I didn't click on it. I tried not think about it. I had read Americanah, watched an interview or two, saw her talk "The Danger of a Single Story." I fondly followed her work and her outspoken position on feminism. As someone whose politics revolve … [Read more...]
4 Ways Sick and Disabled White Folks Can Show Up for Anti-Racism June 8, 2019 by Katie Tastrom Leave a Comment I know that navigating intersections is hard, especially when you have privilege in one area and are oppressed in another. First, we need to remember it is not nearly as hard as living at the intersections of oppression. We also need to be excruciatingly honest with ourselves (and each other) about how these factors influence us at each time and place we occupy. As a white … [Read more...]
Calling Fellow Cis Men: Why We Can’t Stay Silent About Reproductive Justice June 3, 2019 by A.X. Ruiz Leave a Comment I have never made it a secret that for a lengthy period of time in my life, I identified as pro-life. For a time, it was a decision related to the Catholic faith I was raised in. Later, even after leaving Catholicism behind, I maintained my position on something resembling a well-meaning but simplistic ethical basis. I say this with no hint of pride or irony: when I was … [Read more...]
9 Reasons Why Acting in Solidarity for Racial Justice Is Preferable to “Allyship” May 30, 2019 by Jaime Grant Leave a Comment There is almost nothing more dangerous in the lives and livelihoods of Black men and women than a well-intentioned white woman with no political framework for her interactions across race. White women’s well-being, our ‘safety,’ is constantly deployed to justify white supremacist violence, especially police violence. Our casual conversations with Black and brown people on the … [Read more...]
4 Ways Men Can Take On More Emotional Labor in Relationships (And Why We Should) May 28, 2019 by Philippe Leonard Fradet 2 Comments Relationships, by definition, require two or more parties to put forth some amount of emotional effort in order to keep the relationship afloat. Oftentimes one person takes on the brunt of the emotions—especially the negative or stressful emotions—that are produced in their relationships. This collective emotional give-and-take is called emotional labor; it’s the work and … [Read more...]
7 Tips for White Parents To Talk to Their Kids About Police Murders of Black People December 23, 2018 by Katie Tastrom Leave a Comment As a white parent of white kids it would be very easy to ignore the police murders of black people and other people of color. However, as a halfway decent person who wants to raise kids who are not monsters I believe that as white people talking to our kids about white privilege and what is happening in this country to people of color is the literal least we can do. I know it … [Read more...]
10 Examples That Prove White Privilege Protects White People in Every Aspect Imaginable October 18, 2018 by Jon Greenberg 1 Comment A couple of weeks ago, Governor Rick Snyder, finally announced a state of emergency for Flint, Michigan in response to the lead-contaminated tap water that residents of Flint have been drinking for nearly two years. Flint is a poor, predominantly Black city, whose residents have been demanding the government for months to clean up the water supply. Structural, environmental … [Read more...]
What Is the Responsibility of People With Privilege in the Face of Fascism? August 25, 2018 by Shannon Weber Leave a Comment If you can possibly stand it, don’t run away. I’ll say it again: don’t run. If your life’s not in danger, if you’re not the one who will be stolen away from your family and locked in a cage next, don’t run away. As much as you can, don’t look away, don’t make concessions to power, don’t excuse, don’t downplay to make yourself or others feel better. I understand that you, … [Read more...]
7 Things You Learn Raising Kids in an Open Relationship August 18, 2018 by Louisa Leontiades Leave a Comment "Have you thought about how a polyamorous relationship works with kids?" my colleague asked as I suppressed a smile. I've written a book about it, I was tempted to say. Do they sense any instability? I've spent hours at a time analysing their actions and reactions. Are they at more risk from bullying due to the unconventional nature of their parents' relationship? We've … [Read more...]
5 Undeniable Reasons We Need To Talk About Christian Privilege August 18, 2018 by Shannon Weber Leave a Comment When I was four years old, my parents moved me from Los Angeles to northern Idaho, where I would live for thirteen years—plus a year-long stint in heavily Mormon Utah during first grade—until I moved away to New England for college. During this time, I was exposed to a poor and working-class, white-dominated culture in which evangelical Christianity was the reigning religion, … [Read more...]
The Paradox of Transgender Day of Visibility: Reflections on Visibility and Vulnerability as a Trans Woman July 28, 2018 by Joli St. Patrick 2 Comments On March 31, throughout the world and across the Internet, people observed the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV). I found myself, as I have in previous years, feeling ambivalent about this event. Because honestly? For many trans women, visibility is exactly the problem: it is involuntary, and it leaves us vulnerable to both physical and social violence. We get mocked, … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Check Your Privilege Around Poor and Working-Class Friends June 8, 2018 by Shannon Weber Leave a Comment It’s important to come to terms with your class privilege and disrupt your assumptions about how your friends from poor and working-class backgrounds relate to money and wealth. As someone who grew up working-class, my idea of being wealthy was living in a two-story house. The types of extreme wealth I would encounter in adulthood just didn’t exist in the … [Read more...]
Did You Do Any of These 6 Activities Today? Then You’ve Got Class Privilege May 8, 2018 by Carmen Rios Leave a Comment The Body Is Not an Apology’s goal is to share the myriad ways human bodies unshackle the box of “beauty” and fling it wide open for all of us to access. Our goal is to redefine the unapologetic, radically amazing magnificence of EVERY BODY on this planet. When we do, we change the world! Join the movement and become a subscriber today! bit.ly/NoBodiesInvisible. *** This … [Read more...]
Are You Culturally Appreciating or Culturally Appropriating? 3 Ways for White Folks to Self-Reflect April 30, 2018 by Lin Kaatz Chary Leave a Comment Not long ago I had lunch with an 82-year-old friend of mine who has been a social justice activist all her life. We are both white. My friend is a poet who has been published in several small literary journals. She listens to a broad range of podcasts regularly, reads widely, and continues to take a keen interest in the world around her. Her poetry focuses on the lives of … [Read more...]
