Tag: women

When a luxury item isn’t a luxury: How one organization is giving homeless women their dignity

I remember the day clearly, especially what I was wearing. I was in high school and Umbro shorts were all the rage. If you don’t remember these, they were a thin nylon/polyester short, usually in wild colors. I think they were originally made for soccer players, but seeing how I hadn’t played soccer since I was five years old, I was more concerned about the cool factor, than the practicality of these shorts. I remember a classmate whispering in my

Listen up men of the church: This is how we eradicate sexual discrimination and abuse

When I was 11 years old I remember hanging out in the arcade at the bowling alley and two men came up to me, leaned in closer than I felt comfortable, and told me how beautiful I was. They offered to pay for my video games and then asked me for a kiss. When I was 13 years old I was molested by someone I trusted. Someone who was supposed to be a father figure to me. When I was

International Women’s Day: You strike a woman, you strike a rock

Updated March 6, 2020. Originally published August 9, 2014. Several years ago I was in South Africa on a business trip that happened to coincide with their Women’s Day. The national holiday, which is celebrated each year on August 9th, commemorates the day in 1956 when 20,000 South African women marched to government buildings in Pretoria to protest the inequality of women, including a law that required black women to carry “identity passes”. The peaceful protest marked a significant milestone

It's not about jewelry

Dear friends, I’d like to ask you to bear with me as I stray from my normal blog content. This one might appear to be a bit self-serving as I’m going to ask you for something at the end. But first, I want to tell you a story. I want to tell you about Emebet. Emebet is Ethiopian and HIV positive. She did not know she had the disease until her husband died from it several years ago. Like many Ethiopians with