Content Note: This article references a parent's use of Weight Watchers for their child. I didn’t always hate and hide my body. I was athletic as a child. I swam competitively and played outside until the last drop of daylight. I trusted my body and knew it well. That changed when puberty hit in the fourth grade. I started to look more like a woman than a little kid, and a … [Read more...]
We’re Still Here: Decolonize Your Mind About Indigenous People This Thanksgiving
This article was originally published at Truthout under the title "The Future is Indigenous: Decolonizing Thanksgiving" and is reprinted here with permission. In 2015, a video meme circulated prior to Thanksgiving, featuring YouTube personality Franchesca Ramsey humorously breaking down the actual history of the holiday. A wet blanket to her family's Thanksgiving dinner, … [Read more...]
14 Truths I Learned for Surviving My Suicidality
Content note: This article discusses suicide and suicidal ideation in-depth. On August 5th of last year, I tried to kill myself. The police were called. I was restrained, patted down, taken to the hospital, and held on a 5150. I was there for two days before they left me go. The term “5150” is the California legal code for “involuntary psychiatric hold.” It is used by law … [Read more...]
Surviving Is Enough: 8 Reminders to Not Be So Hard On Ourselves
I'm willing to bet that you're reading this in the middle of a million other tasks you feel you need to do in order to feel “normal.” Or maybe you're reading this in an attempt to get yourself out of a rut or improve your state of mind while feeling depressed. Either way, I'm here to help! A lot of times, we (meaning you, me, and everyone we know) feel like if we aren’t doing … [Read more...]
El Amor Romantico Nos Mata: Quien Cuida De Nosotros Cuando Somos Solteros?
Soy una persona deprimida, pero deprimida es un verbo. Considero mi depresión como el resultado de una posición social y de la inevitable historia de colonización, racismo, del estigma de la gordura y de la discriminación. Estoy tomando antidepresivos, pero éstos solo pueden reprogramar la química de mi cerebro y no la realidad social y material en la que vivo. No puede … [Read more...]
7 Things My Unruly, Curly Hair Taught Me About Being Unapologetically Latinx
Growing up, people would always asked me about my hair, about my skin, about my eyes, about my mother, about my grandmother. Anti-blackness would prompt these questions to become inquiries, attempting to trace back lineage beyond dialogue, and into imaginary stories that may have been true or may have not. In their eyes, my hair symbolized something foreign, something … [Read more...]
Dear White Women: Why We Need To Stop Crying When POC Call Us Out
I was once in an abusive relationship. Few people agree that it was abusive, because I left him after he'd hit me a couple of times. But they weren't there everyday for a period of years when he cajoled me into having sex by saying, 'your body wants me.' I'd often reply, 'but my mind doesn't...' I felt that this was somehow important even if I wasn't 100% convinced. Not that … [Read more...]
