I turned 24 today, and I must admit, despite the drop in temperature and the shorter days, my birthday has caught me by surprise. 20-freaking-4! I feel… old. The new song “Live While We’re Young” popped up on youtube, and I was overcome with this sense that maybe, just maybe, I’ve missed my chance to…
New York
What is the winter for? To remember Love.
New York Blizzard of December 2010 I ventured out into the blizzard to take some pictures. I wore the dress my mom gave me for christmas (which, for all that I just said in my last post, I still love and if it proves to be durable enough, will most definitely become the dress of…
now my heart stumbles on things i don’t know, this weakness I feel I must finally show
This video (with no intentional connection to Christmas) makes me think of the way Christmas should be: people appreciating and celebrating life by showing beauty and love to those closest to them as well as to strangers. I have the song Awake my Soul by Mumford & Sons stuck in my head. It describes me…
September 11th, 2010
It’s been 9 years. I don’t have anything special I want to say to commemorate today or the lives lost. I just need to write. It’s been two months since I’ve been on here; I had to try a few different passwords to log-in. I’ve written since then, mostly about my grandmother and our time…
Waka, waka! 8 Goals, 5 years. Do it, do it!
Millennium Development Goals In 2000, 189 nations came together and agreed upon 8 goals: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. These goals are the…
MDG 2010 summit informal hearings
On Monday and Tuesday, I will attend the Informal Interactive Hearings of the General Assembly in preparation for the MDG 2010 summit (High-level Plenary Meeting). The UN Member States hope this MDG 2010 summit will rally support and encourage collective action in reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The UN Member States asked the…
I won’t be made useless
This post is in response to the question, “How do you get to do so much cool stuff?” On World AIDS Day in 2007, I attended the conference Profiles in Courage: Health and Human Rights in Action. The event had been mentioned somewhere and looked interesting so I sent a quick e-mail and RSVP’ed. I…
Woman King
Tell me the story… It was a woman. You always say that. There’s always a woman somewhere, child; a princess, a witch, a stepmother, a mermaid, a fairy godmother, or one as wicked as she is beautiful, or as beautiful as she is good. Is that the complete list? Then there is the woman you…
Mississippi – “Then we sat on our star and dreamed of the way that we were and the way that we wanted to be.”- Morrison
Dear Whoever May Still Read This, I want to update you on what’s been going on these past few weeks. I apologize if you texted, called, facebooked, or e-mailed me during the month of July and did not hear back from me. On July 4th, I drove down New Jersey to volunteer at training camp…
Do you do something?
Last night I attended the Dosomething Awards at the world famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY and they were AWESOME. Do Something is an incredible organization that honors young change-makers and inspires other young people to DO SOMETHING. My favorite part (and I think this is what sets them apart MOST from other organizations) is…
Twitter Protest, Using Technology to Create Social Change
Twitter, what exactly is it? Short answer- Twitter is a social networking cite that facilitates communication by allowing people to say what they are doing in 140 characters or less. Long answer- Twitter is whatever the user wants it to be! Some use Twitter as a way to keep friends updated on events and social…
How do you put evil on trial?
Two days ago the tribunal in charge of processing Cambodia’s genocide sat down to meet for the first time to try to make sense of the 1.7 million deaths that occurred between 1975-1979 under the Khmer Rouge. Delayed thirty years by civil war and conflict, the tribunal seeks to bring justice, understanding, and closure to…