For over a year and a half, I’ve worked at an organization in San Francisco called, St. Anthony’s. At first, I was a full time employee and now, part-time. A well-known entity in the City, St Anthony’s is most recognized… Read More ›
activism
Privilege and Hierarchy in Community Care by Christy Croft
This is part one of a multi-part series on privilege, dehumanization, and hierarchy in organizing, activist, and ministry circles. Early in my training at my current job, my boss explained our agency’s position on social justice and intersectionality to me:… Read More ›
Befriending our Dragons by Sara Wright
“We are an overflowing river. We are a hurricane. We are an earthquake. We are a volcano, a tsunami, a forest fire…” These words written by Judith Shaw speak to the underlying merging of woman’s anger with Earth’s natural disasters,… Read More ›
If I Don’t Care, Then, Who Will? by Karen Leslie Hernandez
What are we going to do with this world that’s on fire right now? I continually ask myself what my role is on this beautiful blue planet – what am I supposed to really do? What am I going to… Read More ›
The Deep Exhale by Christy Croft
There’s this thing that happens to advocates when the world around us burns with injustice and fury and we shift into what we know, the holding-fighting, fierce-eyed, tender-hearted caring that pours out compassion and links lives with survivors, shedding trails… Read More ›
God, Consent, and Freedom by Christy Croft
Over the summer, I started at a new job, which I’ve decided I can safely describe as a “dream job” – one to which I can bring my full self, and in which I can use all my gifts and… Read More ›
Will Donald Trump Go to Heaven? by Gina Messina
Having seen the image of a toddler crying while law enforcement questioned her mother, my daughter was filled with fear, anxiety, and confusion. After tearfully asking if she would be taken away from me, my nine year old followed up… Read More ›
Spinning the Fire, Shifting the Current by Christy Croft
Seventy-two hours out of every week, I carry a hotline phone. While calls come in waves and some shifts are silent, my everyday and professional lives are peppered with reminders that evil doesn’t just pierce reality through acts of power,… Read More ›
Is God Breathing? by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Another mass shooting. Syria. #MeToo. Hunger. Animal extinction. Iraq. Climate change. Deportation. Slavery. Central African Republic. Hate crimes. Rape. Animal cruelty. Oppression. Accidental nuclear war alerts. Homeless encampments. “Illegal immigrants.” Afghanistan. More mass shootings. Sex robots. Trafficking. Russian bots. Racism…. Read More ›
Photo Report from the 2nd Women’s March, January 20, 2018 by Marie Cartier
You can see my photo report from the last Women’s March 2017 here. And you can see more of my photos from this 2018 march here, here, and here. Please enjoy these radical feminist images from 2018! Yours in the struggle FAR… Read More ›
30 Years of Activism by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
My first memory as an activist is of attending my first political public meeting to listen leaders of the resistance talking against the Dictatorship, marching holding a sign that read “Democracy Now,” and taking my first dose of tear gas. It was… Read More ›
Difficult Dialogues by John Erickson
Let’s have a conversation about men and feminism and how we can continue to abolish the patriarchy together rather than writing mean, hurtful comments online.
Faith in Action by Lisa Kloskin
Nearly a month ago, American voters showed up at the polls and delivered some big wins: the first openly transgender person was elected to a statehouse—Danica Roem in Virginia. Roem defeated an incumbent candidate who authored an anti-trans bathroom bill…. Read More ›
Academics and Activism by Ivy Helman
Two weeks ago, I spoke at a conference entitled “The Role of Academia and Religious Leaders in Relation to Refugees and the ‘Refugee Crisis,’” in Bratislava, Slovakia. One of the main questions of the conference was: what role do academics… Read More ›
Who Does Islamic(s) Feminism(s) Belong To? by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
Who does Islamic(s) feminism(s) belong to? The answer to this question seems obvious: Islamic feminism belongs to all Muslim women who wish to adhere to it, and feminism is for everybody, as bell hooks said. In reality however, it is not… Read More ›
Mindful of the Bond We Share in these Trying Times by Vibha Shetiya
I’m sitting in my parents’ balcony in Pune, India, on a quiet morning. Well, this being a bustling Indian city of six million, it can’t really be quiet. As I sit with cup of tea in hand, I try and… Read More ›
Positive Presence in Tiring Times by Christy Croft
I am tired. I’m tired in that way that happens when mind-overload, followed incautiously into concrete corners, limits the ability to conceive of solutions and dig up hope. I’m tired of reading commentary and I’m tired of thinking about the… Read More ›
Gratitude Expressed by Deanne Quarrie
We are all experiencing troubled times. Many are moaning and groaning, crying and screaming out. Both sides are bringing such huge negative energy to our world. For just an hour – a day – if you can sustain it –… Read More ›
Caring as Resistance and Sisterhood by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
Every week, the women participating in my workshops easily share their experiences in the social, political or community world. However, it is difficult for them to talk about themselves. Several of them face complex situations: A divorce or a long… Read More ›
Living Out the Tension: Spirituality, Self-Care, & Activism in Action by Christy Croft
“Great art is not a matter of presenting one side or another, but presenting a picture so full of the contradictions, tragedies, [and] insights of the period that the impact is at once disturbing and satisfying.” – Pauli Murray My… Read More ›
‘Imagine’ by Jassy Watson
At my first international retreat on Lesvos, Greece, women gathered with me from around the globe in the village of Molyvos to connect with their authentic creative spirit and bring their Mediterranean Muse to life on canvas. With permission from… Read More ›
Caitlyn Jenner is a Friend of Mine
To speak ones truth is oftentimes a difficult and nearly impossible act. However, to live one’s truth, on a day-to-day basis, is an aspect of life that has become so foreign to individuals who have become so comfortable in their own skin that I fear the activist and social justice roots that we all claim to hail from have fallen at the wayside and been replaced by complacency and reductionism.
Violent and Non-Violent Protest by Sara Frykenberg
For those of you who have read my blogs before, you may have gathered that my approach to justice-making is not entirely non-violent. Researching and writing about the movement away from abusive community paradigms in my dissertation, I argue that… Read More ›
It is a Matter of Focus by Deanne Quarrie
Many of the young women I meet tell me that they think feminism is not what they are about, that they prefer to work for the good of all. I understand that and certainly we can all choose where we… Read More ›
University of Oklahoma and Female Complicity in Patriarchy by Cynthia Garrity-Bond
By now most, if not all, readers of FAR have read or watched the disturbing YouTube video of University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) Fraternity sing their racist chant. The two male SAE members who led the “song” were… Read More ›
Genderqueering by John Erickson
We find our versions of home in these communities and it is within these spaces where our home not only begins to define who we are but we, as a reflection of that space, begin to outwardly redefine the spaces we exist in. If we slowly begin, through our experiences to shape our homes based on privilege and power without self-reflection and acknowledgment of others, then we are no better than those oppressive forces we say we’re against.
“‘A’ is for Adjunct:” National Adjunct Walkout Day #NAWD
On Wednesday February 25th, adjunct faculty across the United States walked out of their classrooms, and hosted teach-ins, lectures, film screenings and rallies, to protest the employment conditions faced by adjunct and all contingent faculty members of colleges and universities…. Read More ›
Sequana and Blessed Water by Deanne Quarrie
Water is the daily necessity for earth’s creatures. When the Continental Celts were looking for a new homeland, they ventured west from the known river valleys of the great landmass we call Eurasia. Just beyond the great mountains, the Alps,… Read More ›
On Believability, Oppression and Ferguson by Sara Frykenberg
Last week, Amina Wadud wrote an important post, “Justice for Mike Brown,” discussing Mike Brown’s death in light of Brown vs. The Board of Education, Plessy vs. Ferguson and the injustice faced by African American Communities, particularly in the US… Read More ›
Writing: Changing the World and Ourselves. By Ivy Helman
I still remember the first time I read Mary Daly’s Gyn/Ecology. It awoke something within me. Her use of language, the power of her writing and the ease with which she created new words taught me so much about the… Read More ›
