39 Search results for "dont ask dont tell"

by Josie Pickens This essay contains discussion of sexual violence I once dated a man who said that he had never been in a relationship with a Black girl who hadn’t suffered serious sexual trauma. He would soon learn that I was yet one more. It had happened to #metoo. A woman who began being […]

A 25-year-old man was shot and killed by police after they chased him down, suspecting that he was about to commit a crime. Donte Bennett was shot after Baltimore police acted on “intelligence” that a crime was about to happen. They chased Bennett into Douglas Homes, an altercation that ended with Bennett’s death:

I opened my eyes and abandoned my nihilist reveries to learn that Christmas came early for many members of the LGBT community.  Last weekend, the Senate repealed “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” a policy that banned gays and lesbians from openly serving in the Armed Forces.  Established in 1993, DADT was a compromise by President Clinton, […]

“I don’t want no feminine person defending me in the army” I try not to be desensitized by comments like this. I try to be as offended as I was the first time I encountered ignorance. But in reality, once you hear something for so long, it can never strike you in the same way […]

In my family, we have a tradition of cooking and sitting with the grieving, especially when they have no words. Especially when the tears have been ripped out and the well to produce more has disappeared. We honor the lives of the folks who’ve been lost, beaten, and violently shredded from this world by sitting […]

The impacts of capitalism and society’s never ending romanticization of working hard, being productive and making money (lest we be labeled lazy) have done a disservice to our relationships. We usually don’t have time to check in because even when we are off of work, we’re too exhausted to be present enough to support vulnerable, […]

by Avery Ware The sexual question comes after the question of color; it’s simply one more aspect of the danger in which all black people live. I think white gay people feel cheated because they were born, in principle, into a society in which they were supposed to be safe. The anomaly of their sexuality […]

I haven’t trusted Billie Eilish since I became aware of her nearly a year ago. The context in which I learned about her was a valid and necessary social media post which lamented how fucked up it is that Eilish has apparently gone out of her way to dress “modestly” so as to not be […]

This essay contains descriptions of racial violence and spoilers for Episode 6 of HBO’s Watchmen  by Donnie Moreland I don’t trust Damon Lindelhoff—the showrunner of HBO’s Watchmen. He’s a damn compelling writer, but he is one that often conflates philosophical inquiry with good storytelling, which can result in pretentiously puzzling television; of which I’m very […]

This essay contains detailed discussion of r/pe, sexual assault, and human trafficking  by Jamila Dawn Mitchell  Today, I learned that my rape looks like 11,000 cases of human trafficking. Five minutes into listening to a panel on the phenomenon, I found myself scribbling musings of my trauma to help me cope. The ways men use […]

by Indigo  In the early hours of October 17, 2019, United States Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD 7th District) died of complications related to long-term health conditions at age 68 at a hospice center in Baltimore, Maryland. Representative Cummings has represented Maryland’s seventh district since 1996, Kweisi Mfume preceding him prior to becoming President of the […]

By Adrie Rose When I was thirteen, my mum stopped talking to me for a week. I don’t remember what I did, but I’m sure I was being a right little shit and she wasn’t the type of parent to spank or hit. My parents have always understood that there are far more effective (and […]