controversies
It seems every time one racially-charged incident ends, a gender or religious controversy takes its place; Ruminate on the issues dividing our nation and world.
The Baalei Teshuva Project: Finally Breathing
I was raised in a very secular Soviet household. I went to a Jewish day school for about three years, where I never had help with my homework. My grandma barely remembered Yiddish. Even though she’d speak to me in Yiddish and I understood fluently, my mom didn’t want her to speak to me in Yiddish. She didn’t want me going back to the roots.
By Naomi Grant5 years ago in The Swamp
Thug(s)
I remember very distinctly the first time a white person used the term "thug" to me and I knew they really meant "N*****." I was working for a Fortune 500 company in their Supply Chain division as a budding manager. I had built out and ran a home delivery program for this company and managed a P&L of about $30 million dollars annually. It was the most stressful yet rewarding time of my life. I had received Executive Leadership awards from my senior leadership team and had been recognize company wide for my contributions. Exceptional customer service skills have always been one of my strongest attributes and I prided myself on being able to negotiate and manage tough customer service situations. There were many a time where my company president sent me issues to resolve and trusted me implicitly to make decisions on what the right course of action was. I said all this not to brag in any way, but more to provide context of my work ethic and standing at this particular point in time at this company. I was well respected and had worked my ass off to be so.
By Whitney Smart5 years ago in The Swamp
WAP vs. You Shook Me All Night Song
I absolutely love music. From the moment I was born, I was unknowingly being trained in good music. Funny (and true) sidebar story: My mom was terrified of SIDS. If you are old enough to know or remember anything about the 80's, there was a period of time were there was an increase of infants dying in their sleep. They sometimes called it "crib death," but it was SIDS which stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. My mom had this idea that if she played music to me on the radio when I was sleeping, that somehow the music would call me back from the Light if my little baby Spirit decided it had had enough of this planet already. Irrational, I know. Makes no scientific sense, I know. Totally a mom-logic thing? Absolutely. And really kinda sweet in an odd way! But in reality, all that happened was that I was being subliminally programmed to good ass 70's and 80's music!
By Whitney Smart5 years ago in The Swamp
White Privilege is Not Just a White Thing
When I first started talking about writing this article, I was immediately hit with several white people wanting to argue that there is no such thing as white privilege, even questioning what its definition is. This piece is not about whether or what it is, but the fact that Non Black People of Color (NB POC) often are recipients of it, whether they want to be, or not. Often without even realizing it.
By Lisa LaRue-Baker5 years ago in The Swamp
ADF India Hosts Religious Freedom Conference With UN Special Rapporteur
The citizens of India have the right to practice and preach which ever religion they choose to follow. The country. The country has an estimated 1,380,004,385 people at mid year according to UN data. These people habitate a large country which has many, many religions which are practised in it. While 94% of the world's Hindus live in India, there also are substantial populations of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and adherents of folk religions.
By Ashish Prabhu5 years ago in The Swamp
The decline in fact based knowledge is harming governance
The decline in fact based knowledge. The more we are told, the less we know. Many decisions are now made based on the prevalent opinion, rather than scientific fact and this is harmful to world wide governance. It allows manipulation of both public and authority perceptions.
By Peter Rose6 years ago in The Swamp
I’m all in on Reparations and you Should be Too
Photo by Fibonacci Blue Reparations - some people get so upset at the mere mention. You need to calm down. I think it provides an excellent discussion point to delve into our past and possibly come to understand each other better. But I’m starting to think that there’s more here than just a theoretical conversation, and the check actually made out would serve us all. That’s right “some people,” I’m talking to you.
By Rich Monetti6 years ago in The Swamp
The African American Addict
The African American Addict Is it still easier find dope, than it is to get a job? Langston Hughes was an American poet, but he was also a social activist, among other things. The most fascinating thing about his work perhaps, is that it is still as relevant today as it was the day he wrote “Junior Addict”; the problems posing African Americans due to their marginalization by a social hierarchal system deep-rooted in sympathies to slavery have never gone away. In fact, one could argue that the problems have increased exponentially. In America today, there are more African Americans under correctional control—in prison or jail, on probation or parole—than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.
By Jonathan Mosby6 years ago in The Swamp
Homelessness
“All right reserved."No part of Homeless Blog publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recorded, scanning, displaying, modifying, republication, republishing, posting on any website, platform, social media, RSS feeds or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher or author Fatma Robinson@copyright. [email protected].
By Fatma M Robinson6 years ago in The Swamp
The Growing Cases of Pedophilia
For decades and decades, some things have been true. 2+2=4, the opposite of up is down, and pedophilia is wrong and sick. With the arrest of Jeffery Epstein and his cohorts, there has been a renewed interest in the topic. There are some very prominent and powerful people that will be implicated in this and Hollywood is only the start, seemingly. There have always been people who will say this is a lifestyle and it shouldn't be made taboo. These are sick people and they need help! There have been T.V. shows devoted to catching these people. There are also organizations that not only protect these people but make it seem perfectly normal to have these feelings. Ladies and gentlemen, there is now a push to make pedophilia normal. Not just normal, but a recognized sexual orientation! Why? Because it is the only way to protect those rich and powerful people and keep their butts safe. Think about this for one minute if you will. The laws are often made to benefit those who write them. By changing the laws they protect themselves, and all their buddies that have been implicated in the Epstein case.
By Bradley Perry6 years ago in The Swamp
Intersectional Environmentalism (Hacks and Resources). Second Place in Sustainability Hacks Challenge.
Despite sustainability being second nature in Black and Brown homes, often unknowingly, the sustainability community is often dominated by white people making it difficult for BIPOC to feel included in the conversation. Additionally, "cruelty-free" options can be tone deaf and completely disregard environmental racism. Major distributors like Amazon are exploitative, therefore, not everyone is comfortable supporting unethical companies that are often included in posts about zero waste options.
By Gabriella Pomales6 years ago in The Swamp
