LWV

What if Bobby Knight’s 1988 words to Connie Chung- “I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it”- had been uttered in 2018? Would they have killed his career and his legacy? Those words provide a lens into misconceptions about rape. It is not often violent. It has little to do with sexual…

The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 might be something of a miracle even with the dynamism of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the energy of Rev. Ralph Abernathy and the Southern Leadership Conference. Making law out of the Dream, required…wait for it, lobbyists. Yes, those oft-faceless lobbyists in polished oxfords, clacking through the tiled…

The League of Black Women is not in the Marvel-verse, but you will marvel. These women helped save the world through poetry, advocacy, ministry, activism, and flight. One even escaped the atmosphere. Bessie Coleman- No league would be complete without a pilot for take-off. Called “The Only Race Aviatrix in the World,” Bessie Coleman scrapped…

“Everybody has business they need to unload and spill,” said Erika Frazier. For her, it’s grief, the end of her marriage, the stress of being her parents’ caregivers and the worry she wasn’t present for her two children during all those events. When Frazier’s mom died last October, she helped prepare the body for burial.…

Now is always a good time to join the League of Women Voters. If you are like me, you’ve waited, maybe because of young kids, a career, school, a bevy of commitments to your church or other community organization. I want to say that after two years of involvement, it’s worth the small amount of…

“Imagine a combat vet in his small town where there’s low crime and a high military population. He should fit into the community, but he’s unhomed. He has a disability and complex trauma.” Ted Brinegar, founder of Foxhole Homes, began explaining his objectives by focusing on the challenges that result in homelessness. Brinegar, who has…

When the street department announced it would put a four-way stop just around the corner from Dari-Licious at Oak and Market streets, a Facebook acquaintance lamented that he’d not attended city meetings. He wasn’t enthused about the change to traffic there. When the county divided over wind farms, those who opposed them attended more meetings…

“I am a Hoosier born and raised,” wrote Beth Saligugi Elam, “but first and foremost I am Chickamauga Cherokee and descendant of the Powhatan Confederacy. I would like White Hoosiers to understand that we are still here.” “We’re still here,” echoed EagleWolf, a member of an Alabama-recognized band of Cherokee, who asked his last name…

“When do you open your Christmas presents?” When David Sedaris asks in an essay about international Saint Nicholas traditions, he links when families open gifts with how many gifts they give and get. Some families prioritize other traditions – meals and church services, for instance – trending toward restraint in gifting. “It’s nothing I’d want…