Three Ways ‘Girls’ and ‘Basketball Wives’ Are Scarily Similar

by Akiba Solomon on May 9 2012, 9:48AM

These two women-centered series are full of flaws, yet I can’t turn them off.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Arts & Culture, Gender & Sexuality

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In Planned Parenthood vs. Texas, Judicial Whiplash Ensues

by Akiba Solomon on May 2 2012, 9:13AM

While the Republican-dominated Lone Star state dukes it out with Planned Parenthood, poor patients who rely on the state’s Women’s Health Program are in limbo

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health

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Hip-Hop Activist and DJ Fights Her Fiercest Battle—with Heart Disease and Fat-Phobia

by Akiba Solomon on April 26 2012, 9:45AM

At just 36, DJ Kuttin Kandi has a pacemaker, mounting medical bills and the courage to tell her story. Here, she explains what size, race and bias have to do with her heart.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health

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Yes, Travyon’s Death Is an LGBT Issue. No, LGBT Politics Aren’t Limited by White Privilege

by Akiba Solomon on April 12 2012, 10:21AM

Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff accuses LGBT organizations of race-baiting by supporting Trayvon Martin—revealing that, for Naff, the struggle for LGBT human rights is mere window dressing.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality

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How the Right’s Using Women of Color to Shame Abuse Survivors

by Akiba Solomon on April 9 2012, 8:48AM

In our efforts to secure the Violence Against Women Act, we can’t overlook some of the less publicized ways it can criminalize people of color.

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Black Masculinity, Personal Loss and the Tragedy of Trayvon Martin

by Akiba Solomon on March 29 2012, 9:36AM

It is sad how this country continues to sweat black men. And in the past month, the one thing I can’t shake is a deep fear and dread for the black men in my own life.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Trayvon Martin

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Why Native American Women Are Battling for Plan B

by Akiba Solomon on March 22 2012, 9:34AM

Native American women are three and a half times more likely to be raped in their lifetimes than those of other ethnicities. While some progress has been made since the groundbreaking Tribal Law and Order Act passed in 2010, a new report finds that they’re still fighting. This time it’s for the basic post-assault healthcare.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Health

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A Texas-Style War on Women Guts Basic Care to Jab Planned Parenthood

by Akiba Solomon on March 15 2012, 9:34AM

Black, single, childless and back in college, Delia Henry represents a population rarely visible in the so-called war on women. And she’s about to lose her health care because Rick Perry is gutting a Women’s Health Program just to hurt Planned Parenthood.

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

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How Can We Help Kids Define What Is and Isn’t Healthy Sexuality?

by Akiba Solomon on March 5 2012, 9:52AM

In an age of free porn, rape-promoting video games and stupid advice videos from grown men, childhood sexual exploration is trickier than ever. There are no easy answers. Herewith, a few starting points.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Gender & Sexuality, Too $hort

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The New-Old Southern Strategy Mixes Racism and Sexism for Nasty Results

by Akiba Solomon on February 28 2012, 10:19AM

GOP presidential candidates have thrown gender dog-whistle politics into the race pot. It’s looking an awful lot like the odious 1960s Southern strategy.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, GOP Primary, Gender & Sexuality, Health

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5 Things Too $hort & Hip-Hop Media Can Learn About Sexual Violence

by Akiba Solomon on February 23 2012, 11:33AM

Ways to regroup and do better after the debacle of Too $hort’s violent, rape-celebrating XXL.com video.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Arts & Culture, Gender & Sexuality, Too $hort

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Whitney Houston’s Gift to the World

by Akiba Solomon on February 13 2012, 10:09AM

When the pop superstar hit the charts, black music was in a precarious place. Ms. Houston showed us how to marry real singing with pop melodies without losing every inch of soul.

Topics: Akiba Solomon, Arts & Culture, Whitney Houston

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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.

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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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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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