2016 presidential election reveals new, low depths in how we talk about women
By Anna Foley There are a lot of reasons to wake up at 5 a.m. You can get an early start to your day, maybe go on a run, and be the first one in line to grab a cup of coffee. You can see the sunrise. Or, if you’re like me, you can wake […]
Reflections: Pioneers in women’s basketball look back at progress in the sport
By Hannah Gebresilassie “We’re girls and we just want to have fun,” said 90-year-old Mary Wersells, the first girls’ basketball coach at Simeon High School as she reflected on the history of the sport. Nearly four decades ago, Title IX was enforced which prohibited discrimination against female athletes. This opened the doors for pioneers in […]
Bouncing back: “I know what it is to have your dreams ripped out of your womb and your identity taken for a spin”
By Hannah Gebresilassie Vunzai Yeazel, founder of Gorgeous Within and Live Bold Consulting, took a leap from corporate America after a decade when she was among about 100 employees laid off from Allstate. In the last few years, Yeazel, 35, bounced back from a failed marriage, two consecutive miscarriages, lost friendships and a surgery to remove five fibroids.
Local college women answer the call for Hillary at Old Town phone bank
By Jasmine M. Ellis and Torene Harvin With the March 15 Illinois primary less than a week away, local college students hosted an evening of phone banking for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday at the Parkway Ballroom in Old Town. Sponsored by Hillary for America, several of the volunteers remember meeting Clinton at a young age […]
“Collective Voices, Shared Journeys”: Art that pays homage to survivors of gender violence
By Jenny G. Zhang Malala Yousafzai. Benazir Bhutto. Gloria Gaynor. These women of color – activists, leaders, cultural icons – stand in sharp relief against the sky-blue background of the collage. Pasted together, their edges overlapping, the figures pay homage to survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence, political violence, deportation, incarceration and hate crimes. “They […]
Pop-up library celebrates black women
By Meggie Morris Earlier this month, Scheherazade Tillet watched an older, African-American man take the stage at Breathing Room, a recurring event that inspires proactive conversation about transformative justice through art and performance. Holding Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow,” the man admitted to the audience he had only just finished it, before inviting […]
Women warriors have special health needs, researchers report
Women veterans are more at risk for lower life satisfaction, lung cancer, cognitive decline and hip fractures than non-veteran women, the Women’s Health Initiative reported in a new study. The initiative published the study in the current issue of The Gerontologist just two months after the Obama administration announced all military roles will be open […]
