The Supreme Court upheld the "Obamacare" healthcare reform yesterday in a  5-4 ruling. YEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!. It absolutely boggles the mind for me why Some people (Rich people) cant fathom in there heads that were ( human beings) supposed to help one another . People help other people, isn't that the American christian way that this country was supposed to have been founded on centuries ago? yet Some people cant get it in there heads that if you are an employer you need to pay for health care for your employees (ehem ehem Walmart) and If you have a pre-existing condition you should not be denied  medical insurance because of that. Its not a hard concept to learn....come on!!!

RJ Activist and Proud of It!!!

Unwanted pregnancies do forever change the course of women’s lives. It starts the second we find out. The decisions to carry the pregnancy to term or the choice to have an abortion both carry lasting effects. For me, choosing to have an abortion forever changed me and the course of my life. I would not be here typing this blog if I had not chosen abortion. It’s hard to imagine my life being any other way. I’ve been exposed to a whole new struggle that I never knew existed. The struggle that I was faced with 5 years ago is the same one that women have been battling for decades; the struggle to govern their own bodies!

            I was unaware of the struggle that comes with being born with a VAGINA! How did it come to this? When and why do laws and lawmakers get to decide how and when women choose to become parents? And why are there millions of supporters for these politicians whose definition of woman means silent housewife, stand behind your man, cook and clean, and most importantly DON’T HAVE AN OPINION?! They are just as ignorant as I was before I had my abortion.

I am forever grateful to the Chicago Abortion Fund. I am more than a grantee. I am a once blind and silent young woman with no intentions of being any more than what I already was. Now I’m loud, resilient, and determined to create a world that doesn’t force feed my daughters the same bs I ate for 23 years! In the land of the free, why doesn’t my body belong to me?

Chicago Abortion Fund's Summer Film Series

Please join us this summer as we screen "The 'A' Word," "12th & Delaware" and "We Always Resist: Trust Black Women" at UIC's Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.

No charge, but donations to support CAF's work are always appreciated.

Come watch an insightful film and stay for the engaging discussion afterward!

Community Forum Today on Birth Control

Community Forum on Birth Control will be happening today at the K.L.E.O. Family Life Center at 5:30. I am so excited to be able to give back to the community the knowledge I have gained. Knowledge is nothing if you don't spread it.

Who Controls Black Women’s Bodies?

Who Controls Black Women’s Bodies?

Breastfeeding....why the hype?

So i finally stumbled across the infamous Time Magazine cover that displays a woman breastfeeding a child. Now I'm one of the biggest supporters of breastfeeding and I encourage all mothers to do so. However, not all individuals feel the same as I do. You hear folks say its disgusting, it spoils your child or that it's inappropriate. I for one don't see what the hype is all about. Its simply a mother feeding her child; its no different from adults eating a burger in public or a mother bottle feeding her child in public. But enough about how I personally feel about breastfeeding in the public. I want to get to the point of this posting which is the cover to Time Magazine.

In my opinion, this cover is completely inappropriate. People have been talking about the age of the child, but that's not my issue. My issue with this cover is the obvious detached bond that the woman has with the child. Breastfeeding is more than just feeding your child. Its also creating a bond with your child that only a mother has and can do. This cover does none of that. It actually, in my opinion, perpetuates the negative assumptions about breastfeeding...i don't know. Tell me what you think.

Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health awareness month in America; but i wanted this post to focus on Mental Health awareness in the Black communities. There are several things that are taboo in our communities like sex and abortion, but mental illness is amongst the list as well. I think that it is very interesting that the things that affect are communities the most are the things that we don't discuss. We see people roaming the streets on a daily basis in our communities who are either talking to themselves, harming themselves or worse harming others. We automatically write them off as "crazy". These people aren't crazy! They have mental health issues and rather than seeking professional medical help, they self medicate.

Depression is one of the top mental health disorders that is seen within the Black community. Yet it is also most commonly overlooked. We need to bring more awareness to our communities about this issue. I understand that their are barriers like fear, embarrassment, lack of insurance, denial or access to mental health facilities; and while access is often a barrier that seems to be out of our control awareness and assistance is definitely something that we CAN control. Let's stop shaming and start educating ourselves and our communities about Mental Health Disorders in the Black community.