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How to Fight Human Trafficking When You Can’t Do Anything

1/11/12 11:15am by Laura Parker
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Asian girl in handcuffs, via Shutterstock

[Editor's Note: January 11 is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Maybe you've heard about the estimated 27 million of people -- many women and girls from Asia and Africa -- being treated like property in forced labor or prostitution. Then again, modern-day slavery may seem like too big of a problem for you to attempt to solve, what with your own life and family.  Read more

The Holidays Aren't Over Yet! Celebrate Three Kings Day

1/4/12 7:42am by Grace Hwang Lynch
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Three crown candles, Shutterstock

Are you taking down your holiday decorations and moving on to the new year? Not so fast! In Latin America, many Catholic families celebrate "Los Tres Reyes Magos", also known as Three Kings' Day or Epiphany. This holiday, in honor of the three wise men visiting the baby Jesus, marks the end of the twelve days of Christmas. Travels with Baby guest blogger Alejandra Vicco explains how the occasion is celebrated in Argentina:  Read more

Is the “Buy Local” Movement Anti-China?

12/19/11 8:15am by Grace Hwang Lynch
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Made in China, via Shutterstock

Are you done with your holiday shopping yet? This year, the “Buy Local” message seems to be more prominent than ever. It’s a message with which I generally agree. My nieces and nephews always get gifts from the awesome independent children’s bookstore, and I like to check out small boutiques for things such as artisan foods and local honey. So when a “Buy Local” email was forwarded to my inbox, I was really disappointed to see the racist undertones in the message. 2011 Holidays -- Birth of a New Tradition  Read more >

Remembering the Montreal Massacre

12/6/11 12:24pm by Mona Gable
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Student memorial for female students slain at Ecole Polytechnique

[Editor's note: Twenty-two years later, I still remember the Montreal Massacre. Do you? The gunman who methodically shot and killed 14 female students at the engineering school at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec. Because they were women and he hated feminism. As a Canadian woman and an engineer, Amber Strocel at strocel.com has an especially poignant tribute on this sad anniversary of their deaths.--Mona] She writes:  Read more

Awesome Acts of Disobedience: Yemeni Women Burn their Veils

10/27/11 11:00pm by Mona Gable
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Women in Yemen Burning Veils

[Editor's note: This week something truly amazing happened in Yemen. In a righteous display of outrage against the regime, and its brutality against female protestors, Yemeni women burned their veils. That's right. Burned them. No wonder the incident drew international attention. As Adrianne M.P. at Technorati points out, Yemen has a terrible history when it comes to women's rights.--Mona] She writes:  Read more

Chinese Toddler Dies After No One Stops to Help

10/21/11 9:43am by Grace Hwang Lynch
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Chinese toddler video, CNN

You've probably seen the security camera video of the Chinese toddler getting run over -- multiple times -- by cars, while bystanders did nothing. The two-year old girl, Wang Yue, has died in a Guangzhou hospital.  Read more

A Conversation with a Disappointed Man

10/21/11 7:05am by Gwenn
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I Want You to Love My Country

Talking politics with people who were young and socially engaged in the 1960s is always fascinating, but this particular exchange was also downright depressing.  Read more >

Telling the Stories of Afghan Girls

9/14/11 11:00pm by Mona Gable
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Afghan girl

Despite efforts to improve their lives, girls in Afghanistan continue to suffer untold violence and discrimination. In this poignant account at the Afghan Women’s Writing Project, an online magazine devoted to airing their stories, an anonymous teenager tells of her struggle to attend school. How else can we encourage these girls and let them know we care?  Read more

Making Chinese Moon Cakes with “A Tiger in the Kitchen”

9/8/11 9:40am by Grace Hwang Lynch
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green moon cake, by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Monday, September 12 marks the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, a celebration of the harvest for Chinese around the world, as well as many other Asian cultures. It's a holiday rooted in folklore and history, but for many Chinese Americans, it's all about the moon cakes. In my experience, these dense, sweet pastries come from a tin or a Chinese bakery. I don’t know any Chinese Americans who make them from scratch anymore—they are intricate, labor intensive, and who has the time?  Read more >

End Malaria: Buy a Book, Save a Life

9/8/11 8:32am by Brene Brown
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End Malaria

"Buy a book. Save a life." It’s a catchy phrase, but it doesn’t mean much unless it’s true. As an activist and a social worker, I’m pretty skeptical when I see a proposition like this. I normally end up feeling helpless about a heartbreaking issue that I can’t really change.  Read more >