I’m a DEI educator at an academic medical center. Pull up a chair. “This is Dr. Black — she’s a physician and does a lot of DEI work,” my colleague said, introducing me to a friend. “Oops,” she said almost…
When the burden for ending sexual assualt is left only to girls
“Girls are raped all the time.” “Girls as young as 10 are raped in the community.” “Girls get pregnant as early as 13 — mostly due to rape.” These were the matter-of-fact statements I heard, over and over, during focus…
Ending homelessness is a humane priority
The Trump administration recently issued a sweeping executive order on homelessness that dismantles support for the “housing first” model. The order pushes communities back toward punitive approaches, tying housing to mandatory treatment or abstinence, expanding involuntary institutionalization and even encouraging the criminalization…
The Age of Digital Punishment and the call for trauma-informed nonprofits
The work of justice always has been a struggle against forces that seek to label, condemn and exclude. But in our digital age, a new form of punishment has emerged that clings to people long after their official debt to…
Attacks on Zohran Mamdani defy religious liberty
Recent events reveal some of our politicians have forgotten America was founded on religious freedom that included respect for those whose religious beliefs differ from our own. Zohran Mamdani faces a flurry of anti-Muslim attacks after his New York City…
Building a world without sexual harm — one small act at a time
Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been charged with rape and human trafficking. Dan Norris, Labor MP and mayor of the West of England, has been arrested for rape, child abduction and child sex offences. And comedian Russell Brand appeared in court last month over…
A million miles driven leads to transformation
In 1993, I was a 21-year-old rookie truck driver from Silver Creek, Miss., on Interstate 90 in North Dakota, driving west toward Billings, Mont. I was driving for Burlington Motor Carriers based in Daleville, Ind., a company that hauled anything…
Active fatherhood prevents violence and saves lives
As Father’s Day approaches, we’ll soon be inundated with gauzy images of fathers and sons playing baseball and dads taking their daughters to work. It’s wonderful to celebrate the paternal bond as a feel-good Hallmark holiday. However, as an expert…
A vessel for whom? How I learned self-hatred and neglect at church
Conservative legislator Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act that, in part, would ban pornography in the United States. As conservatives push more restrictions, we have to question: Who actually benefits from a culture that…
Hegseth shuts down Women, Peace and Security program
It’s hard to surprise me these days. Still, even I was stunned to learn the U.S. Department of Defense is shutting down the “Women, Peace and Security” program — a bipartisan initiative signed into law in 2017, by President Trump….
Ask Lazarus: Not all resurrection stories have pleasant endings
I don’t mean to sound morbid, but I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice how eerily similar funeral services are to the ritual of sentencing a person to prison. With the ritual of a funeral ceremony, many people…
I can’t stop dreaming about our clergy pedophile, but maybe this will help
Just a few days after my 45th birthday, I had another dream about my childhood pastor. This final dream was the coup de grâce: My great-grandparents’ home was ablaze. It was dark. Early morning still, and I was standing outside, talking…