The Utah state legislation has just passed a bill making women who have an “intentional or knowing” miscarriage guilty of committing criminal homicide.

You did not read that incorrectly. Under this new law, any pregnant woman who smokes, has a few cocktails, takes the wrong herb, works too hard, or lives a stressful life which results in a miscarriage is now a murderer as long as someone is willing to prosecute.

Author’s note: When reading this article, understand that folks of any gender, orientation, ability, race, class, or nation of origin can be a survivor of sexual assault.

Whether you are going to a party or spending the night with a significant other, the issue of consent will always be present. Attending a liberal arts college gives a false reassurance that you will be surrounded by those who understand the complexities of consent and stresses which can blur the lines of consent.

Across North America, college and university campuses are sites of academic exploitation of tribal peoples’ cultures—today and throughout history. This exploitation occurs when scholars use corrupt research practices, and also when teachers perpetuate theories and values that are detrimental to tribal peoples in their classrooms. When those theories and values expand outward into communities with their graduates, they affect the worldviews and political agendas of the public.

When budget cuts come down, they tend to cut occupations of care. What the government considers to be “unnecessary costs” can be rephrased as “things women can be forced to do for free.” Because of this, the cuts have a far greater impact on women.

The service cuts and jobs lost often fall in occupations of community and social services, for which 60% of the work force is women; and office occupations, of which 83% of the work force is women.

This is the first in what I hope is a continuing series investigating language’s subtle role in oppression and working to move away from that.

Popular American culture is continually lowering the bar for communication in favor of being able to colloquially describe our daily lives by stringing together meaningless combinations of expletives and nonsense such as, “Damn, that shit was dope.”

All too often, those working toward social justice become overwhelmed by the challenges involved in confronting complex issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, poverty, and sustainability. The problem, as many of us are aware, is that there are too many worthy causes out there and too little time available for individuals to make a real, lasting impact.

As a result, many of us are forced to choose from a myriad of equally important issues while others may attempt to become involved in too many projects at once, eventually burning out.

Mexico Unconquered, Chronicles of Power and Revolt, by John Gibler, City Lights, 2009
Mexico is a region rooted in histories.

Whether we put our lens on the massacre of millions of indigenous peoples on their sovereign land, or focus squarely on the imperial powers both Spain and the United States have exercised, we can find that the wounds of Mexico’s past 500 years remain unresolved.

What could bring together Desmond Tutu, Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, and UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk at a single university campus in the US? Israel, of course! Or more specifically, a divestment bill to end complicity in Israeli war crimes and occupation.