Viva la Feminista

Rose Tico emerged from "The Last Jedi" as the breakout character. Who would have guessed when we saw her zap Finn that so many people would fall in love with her passion for life and dedication for the resistance? Considering that Finn gets under my skin as an annoying brat, ME!! A few weeks ago Kelly Marie Tran wrote a kick ass op-ed in the New York Times about the online harassment that pushed her off Instagram, as well as the importance of Rose Tico to nerds of color: ...the same society that taught some people they were heroes, saviors, inheritors of the Manifest Destiny ideal, taught me I existed only in the background of their stories, doing their nails, diagnosing their illnesses, supporting their love interests — and perhaps the most damaging — waiting for them to rescue me. And for a long time, I believed them. Bomber Command Tran sums up harshly and eloquently why nerds of color need heroes that look like them. I guy came over to my office th...

Credit: Ron Groeper The first feature documentary about Maya Angelou, American Masters – Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, premieres nationwide Tuesday, February 21 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) during Black History Month as part of the 31st season of THIRTEEN’s American Masters series. PBS Distribution will release the film on DVD the same day, with additional bonus features, and on Digital HD February 22. Most people know Angelou as a writer, but this documentary showcases all of her geniuses in literature, speaking, acting, signing, and dancing. The best part of a full-length documentary on Maya Angelou are the moments when she is reciting a poem while footage of the world runs. This documentary is touching, but most importantly it is funny. Angelou's laughter rings throughout the film. It wraps around your heart like a warm hug...just the type of hug we need during these dark times. Seriously though, for progressives and feminists, these are dark days. Days w...

As anyone paying a teeny bit of attention to this year's Presidential campaign knows we are now one week away from election day. Much has been written about taco trucks , emails, sexual assault, and adorable old (mostly white) ladies who were born before or around the time women's suffrage was written into the US Constitution. No matter what the outcome is, November 8, 2016 will be a historic day as it took 96 years from suffrage to having a woman as a candidate of a major political party. Many women have run before , but Hillary Clinton is the first to be steps away from being the first woman to be elected to the highest office in the USA. This means for many women we are reflecting back. Reflecting on our grandmas and mothers who were our first women's studies teacher, who role modeled strong womanhood, and who could critique Hillary while still sporting a "I'm with her" button. It also means reflecting on the countless women who fought for suffrage in...

Did you know that there is a program to help support black women kick start their innovations? The digitalundivided FOCUS Fellows program is an intensive weeklong program that has a impressive track record of success: Over 30 percent of the black female startup founders who participated in the program have raised at least $50,000 in venture or angel funding and 10% have raised more than a half of million dollars. In contrast, studies have found that less than one percent of startups backed by tech investors were founded by African-Americans. The FOCUS Fellows program takes place in New York City from September 30-October 5 and coincides with FOCUS 2014, the world’s most diverse tech conference. I got a chance to ask Darlene Gillard, Partnership Director, Community & Events for FOCUS, a few questions that a few of you might be thinking... Q: What should I tell my girlfriend who I send this to, but responds with "I'm just not ready for this!" A: You won’t kn...

Yes, I entered the Washington Post's Next Great Pundit contest. I cobbled together a piece about adoption, abortion, feminism and my undying love for Dawn Friedman . Then Latinos in America was on and I sent in an entry about how much I did not appreciate that series. I knew it was a publicity sontest for WaPo , but the fact that they excluded already published op-ed'ers made me believe I had a decent shot. When I saw that the ten finalists were 5 men and 5 women, I was fairly happy. Four of the dudes appeared to be white. Strike. The women seemed fairly diverse in ethnicity as well as kinda age. Althou someone on one of the many listservs I'm on said they felt the candidates skewed young. Point taken. Then the final two came down to a white dude, Kevin, and a woman of color, Zeba. I guess I thought the feminist media community would throw it's weight behind Zeba - She worked on Obama's campaign and while her pieces weren't screaming feminism, she fit what ...

Because I have a presentation on gender equity on Thursday, found out about another extension on a chapter I was writing & gave up on, AND the hubby is out of town meaning I have less time for me this weekend, I present you with a bullet point blog post. Enjoy! Help some awesome Radical WOC get to the Allied Media Conference . I swear, I'd be there myself to represent the not-so-radical WOC contingent, but I have to attend another conference that weekend. Oh...and if you've ever wondered where the super kewl WOC bloggers are, start with this list! kameelah writes * little black book * RGV goes to the AMC * cripchick * Writeous Sister Speaks * Mamita Mala * Tigera Consciente * A Womyn’s Ecdysis * Having Read the Fine Print . Peggy Simpson from the Women's Media Center sums up the fallout from the NARAL Pro-Choice endorsement. As does Scott at RH Reality Check is also following the fallout. (Is it me, or does he look like Bobcat Goldwaith? But of course, far les...

Today is Friday, April 18th...the 109th day of the year. Why does that matter? Because Equal Pay or Fair Pay day marks the day when women have finally earned enough money to equal what a man made in the previous year. In other words, if the dude in the cubicle next to you made $50,000 last year and on average you made $38,5000. That is 77 cents on the man's dollar....it would take you until today to equal his $50,000. Of course, he's still earning, so you're super behind for this year. Of course my example is compared to a white man's dollar and that woman earning 77 cents on the dollar are white women. What about us Latinas? Minority women fare significantly worse. In 2006, the median earnings of African American women working full-time, year-round were $30,3525 compared to $48,4206 for white, non-Hispanic men; the median for Hispanic women was only $25,198.7 This means that an African American woman earned just 63 cents for every dollar earned by a white, non-Hispani...

The Chicago Abortion Fund has launched a new blog for their My Voice, My Choice leadership project . It's still brand-spanking new with only 3 posts, but make sure that you bookmark them, grab their RSS feed, or add them to your blogroll. This blog will be THE place to hear from young women of color who have had abortions, aren't afraid to tell their stories, and tell the stories of others. I've been in many, many meetings where feminists wring their hands and scratch their heads and wonder, "Where are the women of color?" "How can we get them to the table?" Well folks, they are right over at the CAF blog and they set their own table. Why don't you please join them? Technorati tags: abortion , women of color, feminism, women's health, Chicago Abortion Fund