Ingrid Rojas Contreras searches for the forgotten magic in immigrant stories
For all thirteen years as an immigrant I have collected answers to this question: When you traveled over what special item did you bring? A poetry book. A dress. A father’s bow tie. I used to ask this more when I lived in Chicago, where I often found myself in the wee hours of the night waiting for the owl bus, huddling with strangers under the shelter of one heat lamp. I remember a young Mexican bartender who told me a flag and a...
Making Contact’s Violence Against Women of Color Live Chat
“This hierarchy of human life where if you are a woman of color and you’re impoverished, you’re at the very bottom and your life is seen as not worth anything.” –Margaret Prescod Join us on May 21st at 3pm PST as we discuss domestic, healthcare and police violence against women of color. This conversation continues our ongoing coverage on the cultural and structural dimensions of how violence against...
East Oakland Mural honors women effected by violence
Her Resilience, the arts organization featured in Not Throw Away Women is an art-based, women-centered project intended to honor, commemorate and celebrate the lives of women affected by violence in the Oakland community. The project was created by Hazel Streete in honor of Kimberly Robertson, a young Black woman who was raped and murdered in Oakland last spring. Participating artists include Kira Marriner, Melody Shaiken, Nicole...
Storytelling fellow Rochelle Robinson on normalized violence against black women.
I am a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault. My experience informs my narrative and the perspective I plan to bring to this project as the new Community Storytelling Radio Fellowship – about how it feels to be Black, female, often economically disadvantaged, and at a disproportionately high risk of physical and sexual violence. These stories rarely make it into mainstream media; our lives and our deaths get no attention...
My Body My Message: women’s bodies as tools of self-empowerment
The female body as medium, and as message. How can a woman determine how she is perceived by the world, and even by herself? On this edition, we hear stories of women who are using their bodies for political protest, and as tools of self-empowerment…forcing everyone to reevaluate their perspectives on the female form. Featuring: Neda Topaloski & Xenia Chernyshova, Femen members Galia Ackerman, author of the book “Femen” Catherine...
Reflection by Aqueila M. Lewis
“Reflection” was written on April 29, 2014 during National Poetry Month. I love fairy tales and nursery rhymes. I was actually thinking of Snow White and the relationship she had with her wicked step mother. I also remember vividly seeing how the step mother’s only friend seemed to be her mirror. I switched it around and imagined what I saw when I looked into the mirror. And those images just came forth so I wrote...
