All posts tagged: controversial topics

Lessons I Learned from #BlackLivesMatters

Published by

Originally posted on Joshua Lawrence Lazard:
A Sunday morning Facebook post asked “Is Black Lives Matter still a thing?” and I immediately did an eye-roll. The technical answer is in the affirmative. They still are a thing. I still get emails from them. I also know that in many activist circles that Black Lives Matters functions as a real, almost tangible entity. But, I know that that’s not what the social media post really meant. The post was getting at the sentiment that most people are wondering or have finally stopped caring about: why haven’t we heard from Black Lives Matter the way we did before the election of Donald Trump? I read this post and proceeded to climb up the intellectual mountain from which that question was generated–for whatever reason, when I wake up sometimes my mind brings a piercing alacrity to a thought–and I realized that there was a marked shift in how I personally discussed things and in how I engaged in this subjects in and around Black Lives Matter. In fact, I…

Dear Kathy Griffin…

Published by

BeautyBeyondBones Being a millennial New Yorker and actor, I’d like to think I’ve got pretty thick skin. Getting rejected is par for the course in the entertainment industry. The city doesn’t do you any favors — just try battling the check out lines at Whole Foods at 3pm on a Sunday.  Heck, even the squirrels seems to have a certain undeniable hutzpah on these streets. Really, nothing quite comes as a shock to me anymore, for better or for worse. However. Earlier this week, opening up my Buzzfeed app to find Kathy Griffin’s infamous photo of her, carrying the bloodied head of a decapitated President Donald Trump…I literally stopped in my tracks. Just. No. And I have a few words. This is not okay. I don’t care how much you hate the President or his policies, that went. too far. It’s no secret that Donald Trump is one of –… View original post 594 more words

Why I Must be a Better Citizen

Published by

Originally posted on Travel Bugg :
? It happened. The thing we all laughed about, but no one took seriously. The thing that was too tinted by a surreal, orange haze to be considered a true threat. We elected a candidate whose rhetoric is openly misogynistic, racist and xenophobic, who is largely unfit to be president. What were we thinking? This isn’t the America we all know and love. Except it is. The current rhetoric is not new. It is not special to this election and it negatively affects millions of neighbors around the world in their day-to-day lives. We are all joking about moving to Canada to sing kumbaya with Justin Trudeau and the mounties, but the thing is, we can make those jokes. In most parts of the world, if your leader sucks, you can’t just leave. You don’t have a universal passport to get you to a safer, less stressful place. You have to go through miles of desert or years of legal paperwork. You have to get on an overcrowded boat, even…

For Us, For Them

Published by

My parents and long time boyfriends parents both came from dictatorships. They came to this country for a better life. When you are shaking in your sleep on the verge of tears and hear Trump supporters outside of your walls celebrating, fear feels like something you have to make friends with. I don’t want to become my parents who lived in so much fear that even once they moved to the U.S it was hard to talk about the past. Worried that someone might be listening and make them disappear. Straightening their hair to cover up their blackness in hopes of not being noticed. I do not want to and refuse to live my life that way. I will not be living in fear although it seems that now more than ever I will be living WITH it. America was always the girl who passively bullied us in school. Made us feel like we weren’t good enough and taunted us for the things we could never control, but would always say it was a joke…

10 Miles, Election Craziness and Weds Spin Playlist.

Published by

Originally posted on thedancingrunner:
Well hello there! I was up early for 10 miles in the ‘hood. Definitely much needed run therapy after a wild election night. I have to admit I was still in bed just before 10 pm because I knew I’d wake up to find out who the winner was. My twitter feed was super hilarious last night though. Almost more interesting than the actual coverage. The election craziness had me feeling kind of like this though. Glad all of the back and forth is said and done. Without further ado let’s get straight to the spin playlist, shall we? Check out where I’ll be teaching next in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area here. Enjoy the ride! Setting Fires- The Chainsmokers: Warm up Gone- Afrojack: Jumps I Don’t Like it, I Love it- Flo Rida feat Robin Thicke: Standing run Love On Me- Gallants: Sprints In Common- Alicia Keys: Active recovery Somebody- Natalie La Rose: Tapbacks Applause- Lady Gaga: Climb 5/6/7 Time of Our Lives- Neyo & Pitbull: Climb 6/7/8 Arabian Nights (Melsen Edit)-…

Your Life Matters

Published by

Originally posted on Doing Wells:
A Time to Mourn. I don’t often cry on my way to work. Normally it’s just a dull drive in, weaving between the slow drivers while trying not to get rear-ended by the fast ones. But this past week, I found myself sitting in traffic with a tear on my cheek. I was listening to a panel discussion at the Village Church. Pastor Matt Chandler was interviewing four African-American believers about how they reacted to the shootings in Minnesota, Baton Rouge, and frankly every state in America at this point. As they shared how they felt,  I found myself weeping with their pain. I guess I was fulfilling Romans 12:15: Weep with those who weep. In our world, this means we must weep with African-Americans AND with law enforcement officers. In our world, this means we must be weeping a lot. Almost unceasingly. Yet, it’s so easy to get callous toward these events. They’re happening so often, and the rapid fire of shooting tragedies has caused my heart to grow hard. To move on so…