Over the years, much of my writing has been in response to news articles. Among stories about Native Americans that have spurred me to write essays is an Associated Press story of another sort: disturbing statistics indicating the attitudes of teenagers about their future lives.



Read The Full Article:
Teens and Indian Health Service: Saving Both

I am proud to be Native. I am also proud to be a woman. I am proud to know that I have so much to honor in my ancestors’ teachings that show me how to live as a young, strong, proud, Native woman in this world. It is something that excites me every morning when I open my eyes, and something I …


Read The Full Article:
The Next Seven Generations: Reclaiming Healthy Sexuality for Native Youth

Democrats in the Senate got what they wanted this Christmas: a passed health care reform bill.

Low-income women, however, seemed to be the ones with coal in their stocking.

Led by Vice-President Joe Biden, the 60-39 vote along party lines on December 24, 2009 ensured …


Read The Full Article:
Healthcare Compromise: Low-Income Women Get Bumped

What would happen to America if race and gender decided to unleash their passion and proclaim their undying love, respect, desire and need for one another?

What would happen if the two achieved their collective vision and birthed a dream of a world that deconstructs and eliminates …


Read The Full Article:
Race and Gender: Two Lovers Who Dare to Kiss

Heroines of Jiangyong: Chinese Narrative Ballads in Women’s Script, translated by Wilt L. Idema, is the first English translation of the folk literature of Jiangyong County in Hunan, Southern China. This small county is unique because its women penned their songs and poems in “women’s …


Read The Full Article:
Book Reveals Difficulties of Traditional Chinese Gender Roles

What is the role of the artist as we strive to understand issues that divide us? How do we recognize and care about the equality of others? What is my responsibility as a playwright?

As a child I journeyed back and forth between my parents in New Jersey and my grandparents in New …


Read The Full Article:
White Silence and Responsibility

Editor's Note: Urgent circumstances call for early publication of this story planned for our Winter 2010 edition on women of courage.

Aminatou Haidar, known as the "Gandhi" of the Western Sahara for her advocacy for the human rights of her people, sat on a mattress provided by …


Read The Full Article:
In Peril: North African Freedom Fighter On Hunger Strike

In "The 'New' Population Control Craze: Retro, Racist, Wrong Way to Go" ( in this edition of On The Issues Magazine), Betsy Hartmann implies that everyone working on population-environment issues is part of a misogynistic plot to bring back "population control."

I'm here to tell …


Read The Full Article:
Population & environment: a progressive, feminist approach

For years reproductive justice activists have been calling for African American women to break the silence around abortion within our communities. Instead, a new wave of anti-abortionists -- the black religious right -- has been gaining strength, usng a “Black Genocide” argument. This theory was …


Read The Full Article:
Black Abortion: Breaking the Silence

The ascension of Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States in fall 2009 seemed to hang on hyped reaction to statements that she made in a speech eight years ago, even as much of her impressive record as a judge for nearly two decades was ignored. The most interesting aspect …


Read The Full Article:
Wise Words Cause Fearful Notions