Women's March

This was my first peaceful protest and it was awesome (minus realizing I am mildly claustrophobic in large crowds, which in turn made me feel like a wuss and I had wanted to get more enjoyment out of it)

 

I met up with a friend from work at Union Station and we walked to the Mall from there. Walking out of the Metro, seeing the gush of the crowd made me burst into tears. It gave me hope.

We made it down behind the National Museum of the American Indian and just before the Air and Space. We ended up being able to see a screen and I got to see Michael Moore and Ashley Judd.

Inspiring.

It wasn't that way for all participants and I want to highlight a story I read. We can do better, we MUST do better than this. I told myself, when I woke up November 9th and realized life had changed, that I was going to use whatever privileges I had for good, for others who needed them. I'm trying to do that, each day, by putting in the work that needs to be done.

Sunday Snippets: VOTE

GET THEE TO THE NEAREST POLLING PLACE AND VOTE YOUR FACE OFF.

Located in an isolated and economically languishing area of North Dakota, Spirit Lake is a Sioux Indian reservation home to some 6,200 inhabitants.

Obstetric Violence

My heart just broke reading these stories. Yes, a healthy baby is a great outcome, but what about the mental and physical needs of the person giving birth?

Expensive as fuck to be poor

FEELS Puppies are the best.

Why I'm Returning to My Maiden Name

Women's own identities were disappearing. In fact, the concept of removing a maiden name from your public identity is so engrained in our culture, it's the top contender for a secure password reminder at banks and in online forms. When I came to better understand our own history, as recently as the 1970's, state laws in the U.S. still mandated that a married woman needed to use her husband's name to vote, open a bank account, or get a passport.

'[It] is the equivalent of a bomb going off outside Debenhams on the Drapery in Northampton, or on New street in Birmingham, or Piccadilly Circus in London'

Ellen Page looks like she could set that man on fire with her eyes

And there it is

To the Strangers in Whole Foods Who Surrounded Me After News of My Father’s Suicide This is beautiful.

Sent Home From Middle School After Reporting A Rape (TW)

Navajo Water Supply is More Horrific than Flint, But No One Cares Because they’re Native American

Exactly!

Sunday Snippets: Relaxing Weekend

My back was acting up most of Saturday so I spent it on the couch, with Cheryl Strayed and The Mummy movies. Which are the best. End of story.

Omg, The kitties! I really am going to end up an old cat lady.

Babies: four legged and two legged Gah, cuteness!

Anti-Racism

Yes, racism looks like hate, but hate is just one manifestation. Privilege is another. Access is another. Ignorance is another. Apathy is another. And so on. So while I agree with people who say no one is born racist, it remains a powerful system that we’re immediately born into. It’s like being born into air: you take it in as soon as you breathe. It’s not a cold that you can get over.

Beautiful picture of ice

LOL So very true.

YES!

And when we frame all women as being someone’s wife, mother or daughter, what are we teaching young girls?

We are teaching them that in order to have the law on their side, they need to be loved by men. That they need to make themselves attractive and appealing to men in order to be worthy of protection. That their lives and their bodily integrity are valueless except for how they relate to the men they know.

Awesome

Diane J. Humetewa, a member of the Hopi tribe and former U.S. attorney in Arizona, has been nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the district of Arizona as a federal judge. If confirmed, she would be the first active member of a Native American reservation, and first Native American woman to serve as a federal judge.