The recent atmospheric shift felt by many across the country wasn’t hell freezing over — it was Marjorie Taylor Greene apologizing for years of participating in what she called “toxic politics,” taking responsibility for herself and her own actions. For those of…
Back to the plantation: How MAHA weaponizes food
As the nation looks to the holidays and fallout from the longest government shutdown in history, funds are slowly becoming available to fund SNAP programs for 42 million Americans. At the same time, the Make America Healthy Again movement is poised to resurrect a…
A call to servant leadership in a nation that has forgotten its people
A historic government shutdown is taking a toll on Americans in a myriad of ways. Perhaps among the cruelest is the federal government’s refusal to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP, which more than 42 million Americans…
The injustice of normalizing pain in reproductive health care
Unproved medical claims, like tying autism to the use of Tylenol during pregnancy, set a dangerous precedent in pain management during pregnancy and in overall reproductive health care. “Toughing it out” isn’t an option when systemic inequities continue to contribute to higher rates of maternal…
We need more faith spaces that affirm the LGBTQ communities
Earlier this month, the conservative evangelical “King’s Army” spewed homophobia at Londoners and I was transported back to being a closeted queer teenager. Hearing those same sentiments at a young age was what made me realize my childhood church was not a…
In Lebanon, sexual abuse and economic abuse go hand in hand
“I don’t know if I’ve started ignoring everything because I got used to the ugliness, or because the smell of cannabis makes it easier not to care.” With these words, Ftoun, 15, a Syrian refugee working in cannabis fields in the plains…
Big Tech must take a page from the auto industry
When I was born in 1979, my parents brought me home in a bassinet that sat, unsecured, on the back seat of their Honda hatchback. They did this not out of reckless disregard for my safety, but because it was…
Two myths that must be discarded
In this moment in American history, two dominant myths must be discarded. This is especially true in light of the shocking revelations about leadership of some Young Republican groups and their “private” text messages. First, the myth that private speech…
Pregnancy as probable cause: Policing pregnant bodies
This past summer, two federal actions sent a similar menacing message. In Washington, D.C., the National Guard was deployed to remove unhoused people under the guise of “public safety.” Additionally, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced it will end abortion care for…
Change fed efforts, treat trafficking survivors as humans
I started my career in 2011 working with trafficking victims. Most days were mundane, cutting rent checks, helping people apply for benefits, going with them to the consulate to get necessary paperwork. I built relationships with survivors in those long…
What’s the law got to do with it?
Immigrant survivors of domestic abuse are more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen in my 20 years of working as a lawyer, thanks to the flurry of confusing and conflicting executive orders issued by the Trump administration. However you feel about undocumented migrants, everyone…
The Perfect Victim Myth undermines bodily autonomy
AI-enhanced perfection, whether by fashion magazines or Hollywood, is perpetuating unattainable standards for what it means to be a person, but this new model isn’t new. For generations, marginalized people have been subject to the myth of the perfect victim….