Tag: Issue 03-12-2013
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Playing the Feminist Card
A cat token voted into the game of Monopoly is very cool—but Parker Bros. still got trumped, because the hottest deal in game design now is the newly minted Feminist Playing Cards. These decks are portable, playable art collections, encompassing both illustrative and musical adventures. A discussion of Missy Elliott’s efforts on behalf of strays,…
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Jose Mateo's "How Do I Love Thee" Reviewed
I went to the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre on a Saturday night, February 23rd, and was really taken back not only by the performance, but also by the complementary atmosphere of the theatre. I personally have never been to a ballet before, aside from some of my sisters’ small recitals I involuntarily attended as a…
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The Changing Role of Haitian-American Women
Haitian Women, in Haiti, are terribly oppressed, both economically and psychologically. I know this first hand having grown up with five women in Haiti and by often observing their delicate task of navigating in a sea of sharks: the male oppressors who limit them to being subservient and objectified. But, as Bob Dylan sings, “The…
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Prodding the Bell Jar
“Perhaps someday I’ll crawl back home, beaten, defeated. But not as long as I can make stories out of my heartbreak, beauty out of sorrow.” – Sylvia Plath. Fifty years into the demise of Sylvia Plath, her life and work resonate with themes still largely relevant to the plight of the individual today. With a…
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Free Will Versus Destiny
The following series of essays have been written while teaching ESL (English as a second Language) classes to adult students from all corners of the world (this writing exercise began last month, and continues to be a part of my classes). Each morning, the first class – that began this project – was required to…
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Roe v. Wade 40th Anniversary Interview
Sarah Weddington won a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion. Four decades later, she sees access to the procedure under attack. “We’re trying to reach out to a younger generation who frankly doesn’t remember when abortion was illegal.” (3186 Words) – By Rosette Royale Websites that list traditional anniversary gifts suggest that for a person…
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Queer, Femmes, and Feminism
Last August, award-winning filmmaker Pratibha Parmar delivered a keynote address at FEMME Conference 2012: Pulling the Pieces Together, in Baltimore, Maryland. This is an excerpt from her talk. Every day, I read and witness how many of us who fall outside the white, hetero-normative, sexist, homophobic, ableist, racist culture pull the multiple pieces of our…
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The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks
The Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks + Beacon Press + 303 pages “A tired seamstress” is how we remember Rosa Parks in our national imagination. Accordingly the tired seamstress was not a troublemaker just a simple woman who in a single act of defiance launched the modern civil rights movement. The political history of Rosa…
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Picketers Protest Price Hikes
A group of more than 70 tenants of City Realty Group, LLC, gathered outside the company’s Brighton, Mass. headquarters to protest what they call predatory rent spikes and unfair evictions. Organized by tenant rights groups: City Life/Vida Urbana and Chelsea Collaborative, the demonstration comes on the heels of multiple attempts to negotiate affordable rents for…
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Legislative Day of Action for the Homeless
On February 27th, a large group of concerned citizens met at the State House to ask the State Legislature to protect families by increasing funding for housing and protecting safety net programs. The day was also meant to focus attention on the need to protect programs designed to help homeless youth under the age of…