Komen Is Just the Latest Round in the Anti-Choice Game of Chess

by Akiba Solomon on February 9 2012, 10:43AM

And poor women and women of color remain the pawns who get sacrificed.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health, Planned Parenthood

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The Tragic, Craven Undoing of Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Noble Mission

by Akiba Solomon on February 1 2012, 10:01AM

Whether they like it or not, defunding Planned Parenthood’s breast health programs makes Susan G. Komen Foundation look anti-choice. And of course, poor women of color will suffer most.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health, Planned Parenthood

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News Flash: Black Women Do Stuff Like Worry About Bills and Pray

by Akiba Solomon on January 25 2012, 8:48AM

Why The Washington Post’s well-meaning, but reductive survey about black women’s lives misses the mark.

Topics: Akiba Solomon

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Bad and Good News on Women’s Right to Reproductive Health

by Akiba Solomon on January 23 2012, 9:21AM

The bad news: According to a new report, anti-choice laws hit a near-record high in 2011. The good news: The Obama administration didn’t buckle to conscience clause bullies hoping to deny women copay-free birth control.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Health, Personhood

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On Baby Blue Ivy Carter and the Alleged Ugliness of Blackness

by Akiba Solomon on January 13 2012, 9:58AM

Of all the madness surrounding Beyonce and Jay Z’s newborn, the self-hating attacks on black beauty were the most disturbing. But even in a time when calling babies ugly in print is OK, we can still find solace. In good books.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Arts & Culture, Blue Ivy

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Racist Jabs at Michelle Obama—and the Apologies That Make Them Worse

by Akiba Solomon on January 10 2012, 10:02AM

Racially coded digs at the First Lady are a dime a dozen. So why do they still make me so angry?

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality

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FBI Finally Calls Rape What It Is

by Akiba Solomon on January 6 2012, 11:16AM

Thanks to the consistent work of a range of activists, the FBI has finally replaced its ridiculously narrow, 85-year-old definition of rape.

Topics: Gender & Sexuality, Now

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The Personhood Movement Is Flexing on the GOP. We Should All Be Afraid

by Akiba Solomon on January 6 2012, 9:17AM

Between the Iowa caucuses and the resurgence of Personhood Mississippi, the reproductive health rights terrain has gotten rougher. Are we ready to navigate it?

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Politics

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The 2012 Attack on Reproductive Rights Will Trade on Women of Color

by Akiba Solomon on December 20 2011, 9:57AM

2011 has featured a string of hard-fought, local battles to protect poor women’s access to reproductive health care. That won’t change next year, and poor women of color will again be in the crossfire.

Topics: 2012: What's Ahead?, Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health

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If I Were A White, Male Middle Aged Forbes Columnist…

by Akiba Solomon on December 14 2011, 10:11AM

The lesson of Gene Marks’s “If I Were a Poor Black Kid” column: If you don’t have firsthand knowledge of structural inequality, you have to put in time and rigorous research to write about it. Or you could just stay in your lane.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Media, Schools & Youth

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Four Ways Obama’s Birth Control Fail Hurts Young Women of Color

by Akiba Solomon on December 9 2011, 10:00AM

With president Obama’s cosign, U.S. health secretary Kathleen Sebelius just made it harder for women of color to prevent unintended pregnancies. Is this the thanks we get?

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health

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Black Website Shows Us the Right and Wrong Ways to Talk HIV

by Akiba Solomon on December 6 2011, 10:04AM

Loop21.com gave HIV/AIDS lots of play on World AIDS day. Two of its stories show how far we’ve come and where we still need to go.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, HIV/AIDS at 30, Health

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Pass the Mic: Transgender Women in Chocolate City Tell Their Stories

by Akiba Solomon on December 2 2011, 10:51AM

Transgender women in the nation’s capitol are catching hell. But violence and bais isn’t the sum of people’s lives, so Akiba Solomon asked trans women of color in D.C. to tell their own stories. “I’m proud of my experiences,” says Danielle King. “Most importantly, I love myself.”

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality

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It’s World AIDS Day. What Are You Gonna Do to Stop This Madness?

by Akiba Solomon on December 1 2011, 11:10AM

Thirty years later, we know a great deal about HIV/AIDS and have significant tools for stopping it from killing us. Now, we just gotta use them. Here’s a list for getting started.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, HIV/AIDS at 30, Health

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The Next Stop for Personhood Mania

by Akiba Solomon on November 22 2011, 2:45PM

Picking up the pieces after their Mississippi failure, zygote rights activists are taking their sideshow to Virginia

Topics: Akiba Solomon

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U.S. Teen Birth Rate Hits an All-Time Low

by Akiba Solomon on November 18 2011, 2:14PM

Forget “16 and Pregnant.” Fewer teens of all races are having babies, according to a new CDC report. The birth rate is also lower for unmarried women and those in their 20s and 30s.

Topics: Akiba Solomon

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What You Need to Know About Childhood Sexual Abuse

by Akiba Solomon on November 17 2011, 10:00AM

It’s one of those unspeakable crimes, until a high-profile case like the one at Penn State makes it inescapable. Here, some basic-but-vital facts about its victims and impact.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Schools & Youth

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What Do Herman Cain and Joe Paterno Have in Common?

by Akiba Solomon on November 10 2011, 11:19PM

The scandals engulfing the Republican presidential candidate and the deposed Penn State football coach are fruit from the same poisoned tree.

Topics: Akiba Solomon

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Mississippi Votes No on Initiative 26, but Zygote-Rights Zealots Press On

by Akiba Solomon on November 9 2011, 3:18PM

Like the Energizer Bunny, the eggs-as-people movement plans to keep going and going and going. Thankfully, so do the folks who continually defeat them.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Health, Personhood

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Mississippi Ballot Initiative Fights for the Rights of Fertilized Eggs

by Akiba Solomon on November 4 2011, 2:32PM

If the state votes yes on Amendment 26, fertilized eggs will be deemed people. Abortion will be illegal, even in cases of rape, incest and pregnancies that could kill the mother.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Personhood

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