Mahsa Amini

Masha Amini was in Tehran when she was arrested. Her brother was told that she would be taken to the detention center to undergo a "briefing class" and released in an hour. Two hours later, Masha had a heart attack and a brain seizure. She died two days later. Her brother noticed bruises on her …

Abi’s Look at Life

"I've been thinking about life a lot lately," Abi said to Mats. "What exactly about life have you been thinking about?" "How it's like terrible traffic and peaceful pathways." "Huh?" "You know, life's ups and downs. The terrible traffic are the downs and bad times and the peaceful pathways the ups and good times." "Oh." …

Grandma’s Ordeal

Photo by Jennifer Pendergast “How’s grandma?”  Cynthia asked. “She’s resting.  I baked cookies.  They’re fresh out of the oven.” “How can you bake cookies after what happened to her?” “I baked them for her.” “Mom, you should be furious.  Grandma was attacked because she’s Asian and nobody lifted a finger to help her.” “Maybe they …

Dinner With Marius

Elspeth examined herself in the mirror. Were the sweater and the long skirt a bit too much? Should she change into a dress or a lighter blouse and a shorter skirt instead? She decided that she would change the sweater. She didn't want to feel hot in it. She quickly changed into a dark red …

Our Skin

  I'm engaged to James, an older and extremely handsome man. We met at a party thrown by a couple of Yale students. I was there alone but he was with a date but by the end of the night, we both knew we wanted to be together. When I left to get a taxi, …

Cai

Cai stared at the moon as it hung low over the horizon.  Sleep eluded her.  Her husband, Huan was in Myanmar investigating the Rohingya massacre.  Five days had passed since she last heard from him.  She constantly checked her emails and cell for messages but nothing was forthcoming. A knock on the door jolted her.  …

The Great Divide

A grainy photo of a child, a beloved grandmother. Survivor of the Holocaust. Deceased.  God spared her from witnessing the hatred that has gripped the nation-- the country that she had called home for so many years.   It was the same kind of hate which had invaded, occupied her country and imprisoned her and over 400,000 Jews in the …

Rihanna Honored

Role model is not the title they like to give me… (but) I think I can inspire a lot of young women to be themselves and that is half the battle.” She added: “The minute you learn to love yourself, you would not want to be anyone else. On Friday, April 1, singer Rihanna was honored …

Michelle Yeoh

I want to be there for all those who are left behind in this world, whether it's because they are born poor, born a woman or born in an area affected by devastation. Just recently I heard that Bond girl (Tomorrow Never Dies) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Malaysian actress, Michelle Yeoh was named UN Goodwill …

Former First Lady Dies

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan died today of congestive heart failure at the age of 94.  She was gracious, fiercely protective of her husband President Ronald Reagan.  She was always by his side.  They were inseparable.  And whenever they were apart, they couldn't wait to be together again.  It seems as if their love just grew …