• ELIXHER
• On June 7, 2013

The First Lady and Her Heckler: Who’s Right? Who’s Wrong?

ELIXHER founder and editor-in-chief Kimberley McLeod weighs in on the Michelle Obama heckling incident:
How we perceive conduct is largely informed by our personal biases and stereotypes — from the no-nonsense black woman to the overly-aggressive LGBT rights activist. Things are rarely ever black and white, especially when it comes to politics. Sometimes we need to check our assumptions, rest (un)comfortably in the gray, and be okay with there being no clear champion in the ring.

Continue reading on theGrio.

Janet Mock Joins Arcus Foundation Board of Directors

The Arcus Foundation, a leading global foundation advancing pressing social justice and conservation issues, announced today that Janet Mock, a prominent writer and social justice activist, has joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

More over at The Arcus Foundation.

Brown Stranger Danger and the Ironies of Gun Control

The US government has a well-documented history of manic overreactions to national news items. A young child was one of three murdered by a terrorist’s bomb in Boston, and politicians quickly moved to reopen the debate over the constitutionality of torture. The aftermath of the Columbine shooting brought with it zero-tolerance policies that have since compromised the livelihood of hundreds of non-violent children. Everything that happened after 9/11. And when almost two dozen people were injured in a mass shooting in New Orleans on Mother’s Day this year, uhhhhh…*crickets*

More on Black Girl Dangerous.

An Open Letter to Mister Cee

Dear Mister Cee,

Overall this letter isn’t about your sexuality, per se. It’s more so about what seems to be an inability to be your authentic self (which is partially manifesting as a battle with your sexuality) versus your fictional self. Whether or not you’re gay isn’t what truly matters, but it’s clear to me and the rest of the world that you deeply struggle with being ALL of who Calvin LeBrun truly is…I applaud you for attempting to uphold what you know because it has served us, but I challenge you to explore your truth because it will serve YOU.

Continue read on the bklyn boihood blog.

Groundbreaking New Report Examines ‘The Broken Bargain’ LGBT Workers Experience

Yesterday, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), the Center for American Progress (CAP), and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a comprehensive new report examining the myriad hardships and barriers facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) workers across the country. That report, called A Broken Bargain, puts together for the first time all available information about LGBT workplace issues. According to the report: “If fairness and equality are part of America’s basic workplace bargain, this bargain is clearly broken for LGBT workers. This broken bargain, in turn, can create an untenable situation for employers.”

Read more at ThinkProgress.