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Culture of Abuse – Why There is Hope in the Fight Against Bullying and Street Harassment. When I was a kid, my cousin and I were walking alongside a busy two-lane stretch of road near the local high school.

Culture of Abuse – Why There is Hope in the Fight Against Bullying and Street Harassment

We had been playing in the woods, I think and were on our way back to his house to see if we could scrounge up some bagel bites or pizza pockets or some other similarly unhealthy snack that kids have loved since time immemorial. Lost in conversation, neither of us heard the truck coming, nor noticed the chorus of drunken male voices roaring along on the wind along with it. What happened seemed to occur in flashes. I saw a bag of ice tossed by long, tan arms within the truckbed as it passed. I saw it connect with my cousin’s head. We grew up in the south during the 1980’s. I was smaller than most children, a fact which became particularly obvious when puberty hit and, though my height caught up, the rest of me did not.

Getting Called Out: How to Apologize. Hey guys!

Getting Called Out: How to Apologize

So today, I want to talk about getting called out and how to apologize. And the thing that inspired this video is recently, we’ve had a lot of celebrities in the media screwing up, getting called out and then offering faux apologies like Russell Simmons, Paula Dean, Anthony Weiner and most recently Sheryl Underwood. I wanted to talk about what you’re supposed to do when you get called out and the way to apologize so that people believe you and know that you’re actually committed to change. When we talk about getting called out, what exactly do I mean? It’s not just getting your feelings hurt or someone pointing at you that you took the last slice of the pizza. So, in my social responsibility video, we talked about why making jokes about really serious issues or minimizing serious issues has negative consequences.

Usually when you call out someone’s behavior or something that they’ve said, the natural reaction is to get defensive. Trans-Millennial Voyeurism Quirk - I accompanied someone to the police station to report a sexual assault, and this is what happened. No More "Allies" By Mia McKenzie.

No More "Allies"

So You Call Yourself an Ally: 10 Things All 'Allies' Need to Know. As happens every time that I read something from Black Girl Dangerous, I recently found myself snapping, nodding, and yelling out “YES!”

So You Call Yourself an Ally: 10 Things All 'Allies' Need to Know

While reading a piece from Mia McKenzie. Her article “No More ‘Allies’” made me profoundly uncomfortable – which is a good thing. I was uncomfortable because it was a call to reflection about my own “ally” identifications and my own work. To start, read her piece. Seriously. Beyond that, though, it’s time for those of us who fashion ourselves “allies” or as “currently operating in solidarity with” to have a conversation. More and more, I am seeing precisely what McKenzie is describing – people of identity privilege who are identifying as “allies” almost as if it is a core part of their identity. Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person... Years ago, some feminist on the internet told me I was “Privileged.”

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person...

“THE FUCK!?!?” When “Life Hacking” Is Really White Privilege — Get Bullish. It happens all the time that white people claim not to be racist because they didn’t intend to be racist; they weren’t thinking about that at all.

When “Life Hacking” Is Really White Privilege — Get Bullish

But there are many situations in which it is precisely your job to think about that. Nothing induces more rage in others than your taking what you do not deserve and not even noticing. A small example: Sometimes I am waiting in line, killing time on my phone, when the cashier, ticket-taker, or receptionist summons me forward.

Class

Sexuality. This Side of Heaven. Straight Allies, White Anti-Racists: Labels That Mean Nothing to Me. “You only know my name.

Straight Allies, White Anti-Racists: Labels That Mean Nothing to Me

You don’t know my story…” Afrofeminism: The What vs. The How I’m often asked to elaborate (and in some cases, “define”) afrofeminism. I’ve spoken about how afrofeminism informs my work, explored themes about Love and Afrofeminism series on this blog, and I regularly share afrofeminist perspectives on current affairs and pop culture with my fans on Facebook. From the work that I do and from the things that I say, I’ve seen quite a number of people over the past year or so been calling themselves Afrofeminists. So have I put forth a single definition? “Hi, my name is Spectra, and I’m an afrofeminist”? (Don’t believe me? Straight Allies, White Anti-Racists, Male Feminists, Blablabla Now don’t get me wrong; labels can be very useful in facilitating initial connections.

Race

Gender. Facebook Gender Neutrality. Body Image. You Are Not The Target Audience. So there was a demonstration and some people got a little militant and maybe broke some windows.

You Are Not The Target Audience

Chances are the demonstration wasn’t a rally against the existence of windows so this may not look like the smartest of moves to you. In fact, it probably seems pretty asinine.