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Things That Shatter: A Memoir
Kaighla Um Dayo - 2019
I saw a universal traumatic experience that most people could never be brave enough to put on paper for the world to read... It’s a story of realization & growth... Parts will make you uncomfortable because it’s raw and the truth can hurt."
- Kaitlin, The American Muslim Mama
"This is a wonderful story! The strength Kaighla has maintained throughout her journey is amazing. Her understanding that "The Sheikh's" actions are incorrect and abusive, and do not reflect God's judgement of her, are the elements which I believe have helped her stay firm in Islam. I hope the strength with which she has come out of her ordeal inspires other women in these unfortunate situations."- Danish Qasim, founder of In Shaykh's Clothing
In 2009, Kaighla—a young, single mother from the Midwest, and a fresh convert to Islam—married an Egyptian immigrant, the sheikh of a mosque in Brooklyn. Unbeknownst to her, he hadn't divorced his wife back home, and was about to be deported. Two years later, she moved with him, her son, and their baby girl to his hometown in rural Egypt, where she was abused and neglected—along with his first wife—for the next four years. A much-beloved speaker and imam in Brooklyn and in Dearborn, Michigan, the sheikh lectured and taught at mosques and Islamic centers around the country in the early 2000's. But across their seven-year marriage, Um Dayo’s identity and cultural heritage were systematically shattered by him, all in the name of making her the ideal "wife of the Sheikh"—and she wasn't the first or last convert to be abused by him.A story about what happens when Muslim women are broken by Muslim men, and find the courage to heal themselves through the real Islam, Things That Shatter aims to shed light on abuse and healing within the Muslim community, and to help female converts protect themselves from men like him. More than anything, this story is a convert's re-declaration of faith that there is no God but God, and it serves as a reminder that women have intrinsic worth in God’s eyes, beyond and outside of their relationships to the men in their lives.
Style Your Mind: A Workbook and Lifestyle Guide For Women Who Want to Design Their Thoughts, Empower Themselves, and Build a Beautiful Life
Cara Alwill Leyba - 2017
Filled with powerful questions, thought-provoking activities, inspirational quotes, and lifestyle tips, master life coach and bestselling personal development author Cara Alwill Leyba leads you on a journey to style your mind, empower yourself, and ultimately live your most gorgeous life.
Letter to My Rage: An Evolution
Lidia Yuknavitch - 2020
And now, when it’s become undeniable that our societal norms are not merely unjust but, for too many Americans, deadly, when public anger is at an all-time high, who better than Yuknavitch to help us acknowledge this moment—in all its horror, absurdity, and pain? She does so here in a direct address to her rage.Letter to My Rage opens in a clinic where the author is waiting to be tested for COVID-19 antibodies. A sighting of the unmasked face of the president on the clinic TV makes her travel “beyond anger” to seethe at an administration ill-prepared to battle a pandemic or confront the racial and economic disparities that ensure vulnerability not just to disease but to a host of human brutalities. And she doesn’t stop there—she can’t. Throughout her life, rage, rather than destroying her, has transformed and compelled her. It was rage that forced her to claim her body: its blood, heat, and power; that ushered her into a world of ideas; and that would show her that where the political and the personal intersect, art flourishes, community and solidarity are found, and change begins. With the murder of George Floyd, her rage reaches an apotheosis. She joins the protests and asks that if men’s anger is frequently used to reinforce an unequal system—as in the grotesque spectacle of a white man’s knee on a Black man’s neck—how can women’s be used? How can her own? Can it be as constructive as it is destructive? Can it create something that was not there before and not just for her? As she sits in that waiting room, she knows the answer is in the body that’s contained her rage for so long, in her very blood; it can offer protection, fuel for others’ activism, a chance for a cure.This incendiary, cathartic account from one of our most fearless writers urges us to reassess and reclaim one of our most intense emotions during unrelentingly intense and troubling times.
Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Economy
Grace Chang - 2000
Specifically, this was in direct response to a campaign that had been brewing for years in policy circles and "citizen" groups, culminating in California state's Proposition 187. The initiative proposed to bar undocumented children from public schools and turn away undocumented students from state colleges and universities. It also proposed to deny the undocumented an array of public benefits and social services, including prenatal and preventive care such as immunizations.While the overt purpose of this voter initiative was to curtail immigration, ostensibly by restricting the use of public benefits and social services by undocumented immigrants, the real agenda behind it was to criminalize immigrants for presumably entering the country "illegally" and stealing resources from "true" United States citizens. More to the point, Proposition 187 came out of and was aimed at perpetuating the myth that all immigrants are "illegal" at worst and, at best, the cause of our society's and economy's ills.Throughout US history, immigration has been viewed and intentionally constructed as plague, infection or infestation and immigrants as disease (social and physical), varmints or invaders. If we look at contemporary popular films, few themes seem to tap the fears or thrill the American imagination more than that of the timeless space alien invading the United States, and statespeople have snatched up this popular image to rouse public support for
My Story: Schapelle Corby: Fully Revised and Updated Since Her Release and Return Home
Schapelle Corby - 2019
She had been Hotel K's most famous inmate.Schapelle was a 27-year-old beauty-school student when, in 2004, Bali customs officers found 4.2 kilograms of marijuana in her boogie-board bag. She was convicted of a crime she still vehemently denies committing.She spent ten years in Hotel K, where she survived unimaginable horrors, corrupt guards, degrading conditions, and abuse at the hands of other prisoners, but also, amazingly, found the love of her life - a love that still burns strong.In this revised and updated edition of My Story, first published in 2006, Schapelle describes her descent into madness, and finding her way back, the chaos of her release, the trials of surviving outside on parole and, eventually, her dramatic return to Australia, all the while hounded mercilessly by the media.This is the first time since 2006 that Schapelle has spoken, driven by a determination to show she has emerged, scarred, but with her dignity, humour and courage intact.Written with bestselling author Kathryn Bonella, this is a deeply unsettling but utterly compelling tale of what should have been a holiday in paradise but instead turned into 13 years of living hell. You won't be able to put it down.
The Mental Load: A Feminist Comic
Emma - 2018
Most women carry some form of mental load--about their work, household responsibilities, financial obligations, and personal life, but what makes up that burden and how it's distributed within households and understood in offices is not always equal or fair. In her strips, Emma deals with themes ranging from maternity leave (it is not a vacation!), domestic violence, the clitoris, the violence of the medical world on women during childbirth, and other feminist issues, and she does so in a straightforward way that is both hilarious and deadly serious. Her comics also address the everyday outrages and absurdities of immigrant rights, income equality, and police violence.
The Vagina Monologues
Eve Ensler - 1996
They were a little shy. But once they got going, you couldn't stop them. Women secretly love to talk about their vaginas. They get very excited, mainly because no one's ever asked them before.
Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future!
Kate Schatz - 2015
The perfect gift for the junior riot grrl in your life."--Bust Magazine"The History of Feminism--in an Awesome Picture Book. The ABCs just got a major girl-power upgrade."--Chantal Strasburger, Teen VogueLike all A-Z books, this one illustrates the alphabet—but instead of "A is for Apple", A is for Angela—as in Angela Davis, the iconic political activist. B is for Billie Jean King, who shattered the glass ceiling of sports; C is for Carol Burnett, who defied assumptions about women in comedy; D is for Dolores Huerta, who organized farmworkers; and E is for Ella Baker, who mentored Dr. Martin Luther King and helped shape the Civil Rights Movement.And the list of great women continues, spanning several centuries, multiple professions, and 26 diverse individuals. There are artists and abolitionists, scientists and suffragettes, rock stars and rabble-rousers, and agents of change of all kinds.The book includes an introduction that discusses what it means to be "rad" and "radical," an afterword with 26 suggestions for how you can be "rad," and a Resource Guide with ideas for further learning and reading.American history was made by countless rad—and often radical—women. By offering a fresh and diverse array of female role models, we can remind readers that there are many places to find inspiration, and that being smart and strong and brave is rad.Rad American Women will be appreciated by various age groups. It is Common Core aligned for students grades 3 - 8. Pre-school and young children will be captured by the bright visuals and easily modified texts, while the subject matter will stimulate and inspire high-schoolers and beyond."This is not a book. This is a guest list for a party of my heroes. Thank you for inviting us." —Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events books"I feel honored to be included in this book. Women need to take radical steps to become feminists, and to be strong to fight for their rights and those of others facing oppression and discrimination. The world needs rad women to create a just society." —Dolores Huerta, Labor Leader, Civil Rights Activist"It's almost always with a chuckle that I view a cartoon image of myself. But to see cartoon-me positioned (alphabetically) amongst so many of my women heroes and role models . . . well, I just broke down and cried. Happy tears. I surely hope that this one-of-a-kind collection of radical American women reaches the hands of all children who want to grow up and become amazing women." —Kate Bornstein, author of My New Gender Workbook"I was totally in rapture reading this book. Bold women, bold colors, and fierce black paper cutouts. I cheer these histories of women who fight not for war or country or corporation, but for EVERYONE! I can't wait for my son to read this." —Nikki McClure, Illustrator of All in a Day
Hard To Do: The Surprising, Feminist History of Breaking Up (Exploded Views)
Kelli María Korducki - 2018
In Hard To Do, Kelli Marìa Korducki turns a Marxist lens on the relatively short history of romantic love, tracing how the myth of economic equality between men and women has transformed the ways women conceive of domestic partnership. With perceptive, reported insights on the ways marriage and divorce are legislated, the rituals of twentieth-century courtship, and contemporary practices for calling it off, Korducki reveals that, for all women, choosing to end a relationship is a radical action with very limited cultural precedent.Kelli Marìa Korducki is a journalist and cultural critic. Her byline has appeared frequently in the Globe and Mail and National Post, as well as in the New Inquiry, NPR, the Walrus, Vice, and the Hairpin. She was nominated for a 2015 Canadian National Magazine Award for "Tiny Triumphs," a 10,000-word meditation on the humble hot dog for Little Brother Magazine. A former editor-in-chief of the popular daily news blog Torontoist, Korducki is based in Brooklyn and Toronto.
Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice
Mary Robinson - 2012
Displaying a gift for storytelling and remembrance, Robinson reveals, in Everybody Matters, what lies behind the vision, strength, and determination that made her path to prominence as compelling as any of her achievements.Born in 1944 into a deeply Catholic family-the only girl among five childrenshe was poised to become a nun before finding her own true voice.Ever since, she has challenged convention in pursuit of fairness-whether in the Church, in government and politics, or in her own family.As an activist lawyer, she won landmark cases advancing the causes of women and marginalized people against the prejudices of the day, and in her twenty years in the Irish Senate she promoted progressive legislation, including the legalizing of contraception. She shocked the political system by winning election as Irelands first woman president in l990, redefining the role and putting Ireland firmly on the international stage. Her role as UN high commissioner for human rights, beginning in 1997, was to prove an even bigger challenge; she won acclaim for bringing attention to victims worldwide but was often frustrated both by the bureaucracy and by the willingness to compromise on principle, which reveal the deep and inherent barriers to changing the status quo. Now back in Ireland and heading her Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice, she has found the independence she needs to work effectively on behalf of the millions of poor around the world most affected by climate change.Told with the same calm conviction and modest pride that has guided her life, Everybody Matters will inspire anyone who reads it with the belief that each of us can, in our own way, help to change the world for the better.
Abolition. Feminism. Now.
Angela Y. Davis - 2022
Davis, Gina Dent, Erica Meiners, and Beth E. Richie.As a politic and a practice, abolition increasingly shapes our political moment—halting the construction of new jails and propelling movements to divest from policing. Yet erased from this landscape are the central histories of feminist organizing—usually queer, anti-capitalist, grassroots, and women of color—that continue to cultivate abolition. Also erased is a recognition of the stark reality: abolition is our best response to endemic forms of state and interpersonal gender and sexual violence.Amplifying the analysis and the theories of change generated from vibrant community based organizing, Abolition. Feminism. Now. surfaces necessary historical genealogies, key internationalist learnings, and everyday practices to grow our collective and flourishing present and futures.
"He Killed Our Janny:" A Family's Search for the Truth
Sherrie Lueder - 2011
But behind the closed doors was a story of drugs, orgies, physical and sexual assault, and constant fear...Book voyeurs who are able to tackle tough subject matter will love this tale." --Kim Cantrell True Crime Book Reviews~~~~~~~~~~BESTSELLING, AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, SHERRIE LUEDER'S GRIPPING TRUE STORY OF A SON AND DAUGHTER'S PAINFUL MEMORIES AND FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL WHILE GROWING UP IN AN ABUSIVE HOME IN THE SUBURBS OF DENVER--THEIR OWN INVESTIGATION INTO THEIR MOTHER'S MYSTERIOUS DEATH--AND RELENTLESS QUEST FOR JUSTICE. This book is the first to explore the mysterious death of Janyce "Janny" Hansen, a former top model from Denver, Colorado. She, along with her husband and children, live in an upscale home in the suburbs. The community sees an affluent, glamorous family. The reality is far different. An abused wife who can't let go. A husband who beats and sexually assaults his adopted children--while running gambling and prostitution businesses from their home. In the early morning hours of September 21, 1984, her husband returns home to discover her lifeless body in his Mercedes convertible parked in the garage--or so he says. Her family is led to believe she committed suicide. Now, 25 years later, her son and daughter set out to prove their mother was killed by her husband, a successful real estate developer rumored to have strong ties to city officials and underworld crime. Many believe the investigation into Janny's death was a cover-up--starting with the coroner's office--and that her husband got away with murder. As their investigation continues, they are led to believe their suspicions are true. Especially, since evidence increases almost daily and points to only one killer--Janny's husband.
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World
Elena Favilli - 2020
Packed with 100 all-new bedtime stories about the lives of incredible female figures from the past and the present, this volume recognizes women who left their birth countries for a multitude of reasons: some for new opportunities, some out of necessity. Readers will whip up a plate with Asma Khan, strategize global affairs alongside Madeleine Albright, venture into business with Rihanna, and many more. All of these unique, yet relatable stories are accompanied by gorgeous, full-page, full-color portraits, illustrated by female artists from all over the globe.
Memoirs of a Born Free: Reflections on the Rainbow Nation
Malaika Wa Azania - 2014
The Nationalist Party was still in power, but everyone knew that its grip on political power would draw to an inevitable end sooner rather than later. Memoirs of a Born Free is a journey back through the life of Malaika Wa Azania as she recounts the experience of growing up through the end of apartheid and South Africa’s transition into a democratic nation. She was not born during the times of constitutionalized apartheid but is still a product of an epoch of systematic individualized apartheid. Her story is not a reflection of freedom; it is an epitome of the ongoing struggle for liberation and emancipation from mental slavery. The struggle of the generations before that of the Born Frees was a struggle for political freedom and democracy and was the foundation for revolution and reform but not the ultimate goal. Malaika contests the notion of the born-free generation when it is a generation that was born in the midst of a struggle for economic freedom and the quest for the realization of the objectives of the African Renaissance. The book's purpose is to give an alternative narrative to the existing one that suggests that Malaika’s is a generation of apolitical and desensitized people.