For?
For the morning drizzle outside
cuddled with a lover
or the sweat on my brow
while I lift boulders.
For the smell of spices from a cast iron orange pot
or the lingering taste of fermented grapes
in the lull of a Thursday evening.
For the black man who waves
at a white baby
or the queer who helps the straight guy sow.
For the corrupt politicians finally serving their sentences
or the homeless woman finally getting a fresh slice of bread.
For the aborted children giving meaning to life,
or the orphans succeeding despite hardship and strife.
For music
for pain
for love
for art.
For the swing in my hips
when the strobe lights flash and the
music vibrates my ribcage.
For the conversations that last all night
or the eye contact with a stranger that lingers for weeks.
For discoveries revealing us to be insects
to Gods,
or the majestic Cathedrals
DEMANDING REVERANCE
(Its own type of gift.)
For humanity’s love
(which needs explaining)
and the fault lines of the heart
causing families to slip between tectonic plates.
For tragedy
for birth
for death
for utter chaos:
reminding us that we’re riders of this rock
with fists plunged deep into moist soul
we cultivate, we reap, we straddle
riding this beast till all is eventually
forgot.
Read More: Everyone Should Read This Incredibly Powerful Poem A Man Wrote To His Transgender Sister
Read More: “Peace”:A Powerful Poem About Police Violence
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This Period Underwear Is Disrupting The Feminine Hygiene Industry
Talking about menstruation makes people squeamish. It’s a reality that stems from the patriarchal mentality that women should be ashamed of their body’s natural occurrences. Menstruation remains a stigmatized taboo, and women are made to feel embarrassed for who they are.
Every woman has experienced that fear: a visible leak resulting from an unchecked period. From grade school into adulthood, sometimes women forget when to be prepared, their menstrual cycle comes at unexpected moments or they do not have enough support to hold the bloodflow.
Even worse: Lack of access to feminine hygiene products remains an epidemic in many parts of the developing world. Women miss school during their period, and some even have to drop out from getting too far behind. The stigma these women face in other parts of the world limits their potential to get normal paying jobs.
One company is out to change that. Miki Agrawal is the CEO and founder of THINX—a women’s underwear line designed to contain menstrual flow. For every pair of underwear purchased, seven AFRIpads, a Ugandan feminine hygiene brand that produces washable, reusable feminine hygiene products, are donated to one women. Instead of only donating the pads, AFRIpads creates jobs for local women to create the reusable products in developing countries.
Their technology has four layers—a moisture-removing layer, a stain-resistant antimicrobial layer, a layer that is supposed to be the equivalent of a pad, and lastly, a leak-resistant layer.
The underwear comes in three styles—thong, cheeky and hip-hugger. Different styles are designed to hold different levels of bloodflow. The hip-hugger is made to hold at least two tampons worth of blood.
Since the invention of the tampon, there have been no real strides in feminine hygiene, Agrawal told Forbes. She hopes to disrupt the feminine hygiene industry and reduce waste from tampons and pads, getting rid of landfill that results from the traditional means of hygiene.
“I want to change the culture around women’s most normal time of month — and not while wearing grandma panties or pads that feel like a diaper,” Agrawal told Forbes. With underwear that is cute, cost-effective and environmentally friendly, Agrawal is revolutionizing how women experience periods on a global scale.
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MOB RULES: Missouri Protestors Turn Against Student Journalists, As Communications Professor Turns On First Amendment
Some protestors at the University of Missouri rallying under the banner of the #ConcernedStudent1950 movement harassed, and obstructed a student journalist from taking photos on campus yesterday.
The university, also known as “Mizzou” is a public college and the protestors were gathering on public grounds to celebrate the resignation of university system president Tim Wolfe.
In a video published on Youtube by Mark Schierbecker, shows a mob of people try to stop the first amendment rights of student reporters.
It is pretty shocking. Even more shocking is that one of the leaders of the mob, a white woman with red hair is a communications professor named Melissa Click.
Perhaps the folks in the video should pick up a copy of the Constitution to refresh their memories of what the foundation of the First Amendment is.
WATCH:
Cover Photo Credit: Mark Schierbecker/ Youtube (Screenshot)
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Kodak Is Planning To Sell Its First Film Camera Since 1982
LAS VEGAS — Few American tech brands are as iconic—or seemingly as doomed to history—as Kodak. And yet the venerable Rochester, N.Y., company managed to create some of the biggest buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show with a retro product with some really famous fans: a new Super 8 motion picture camera that will shoot old-school… Read More
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