Archive for 2016

Oh Freedom!

LGBT Terms and Definitions

Here are some of the words and acronyms that are commonly used in American English for LGBT issues. LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQA, TBLG: These acronyms refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Asexual or Ally. Although all of […]

History: The Right To Vote

When the polls open on Election Day, every citizen over the age of 18 will be able to cast a vote. It is a right we take for granted, one that defines our nation as a democracy. But universal suffrage […]

U.S. Women’s Suffrage Timeline

1837 Young teacher Susan B. Anthony asked for equal pay for women teachers. 1848 July 14: call to a woman’s rights convention appeared in a Seneca County, New York, newspaper. July 19-20: Woman’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New […]

A Brief History of Women’s Rights Movement

Women’s rights movements are primarily concerned with making the political, social, and economic status of women equal to that of men and with establishing legislative safeguards against discrimination on the basis of gender. Women’s rights movements have worked in support of these aims […]

Prayer to God: Standing Together

In the face of devastating suicides recorded in newspapers and experienced in ordinary neighborhoods and families, the Boston University School of Theology (STH) offers the prayer below to remember young people who have been bullied because of their sexual orientation. […]

Prayer for Parents of Lesbian and Gay Catholics

Let us Remember That we are in the Holy presence of God Thank you, Lord, for each other. Give us support, understanding and appreciation for where we are in our journey. Grant us the serenity to understand the precious ones […]

A Prayer for Those Who Are Bullied

Let us Remember That we are in the Holy presence of God Let us remember that when we laugh at someone, they feel pain. Let us remember that when we pick on someone they are angry but also afraid. Let […]

Tim Cook

Following Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple, one of the world’s most valuable companies, was always going to be tough. But Cook is putting his stamp on the company. The son of a shipyard worker, he worked at Compaq and […]

Tammy Baldwin

Tammy Baldwin, the Democratic senator for Wisconsin, has chosen to ignore those she calls “the naysayers, the cynics, and the keepers of the status quo; those who say ‘you can’t, you shouldn’t, or you won’t’”. Her career is a perfect […]

Sir Elton John

Singer-songwriter Elton John has been funneling money into his Aids Foundation since 1992. Every year, he opens his house to hundreds of celebrities and invited guests for a ball to raise money for the foundation, and also holds post-Grammy and […]

Charles Rice – Gonzalez

Charles Rice-González, born in Puerto Rico and reared in the Bronx, is a writer, long-time community and LGBT activist, co-founder of BAAD!    In 1998, Charles co-founded, with award-winning choreographer/dancer Arthur Aviles, BAAD! – The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, […]

Deray McKesson

Black Lives Matter activist Deray Mckesson took the stage at a San Francisco gala on Saturday and opened up about the complexities of being black and gay. “I stand here as a proud black gay man,” said Mckesson, who has […]

Ellen DeGeneres

Multi-Emmy-award-winning actor, writer and standup comedian, Ellen came out in 1997 and faced down criticism to reposition herself as the host of one of America’s most successful chat shows, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. DeGeneres moved into the mainstream by hosting […]

Marie Curie

Born Maria Sklodowska on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland, Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win the award in two different fields (physics and chemistry). Curie’s efforts, with her […]

Alice Waters

Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine. Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. […]

Doc Hendley

The absence of clean water and its consequent illnesses kills more children every year than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. These and other water crisis statistics encouraged Hendley, who was working as a barman, to raise money by pouring wine […]

Asian American History Timeline

1850’s Migration to Gold Mountain The first Asians to migrate to the United States were the Chinese in the mid-19th century to work in the gold mines and railroads. 1850 People vs. Hall This appealed murder case established that Chinese […]

Polish Immigration

Poland, the seventh largest country in Europe, occupies an area of 120,727 square miles—some-what larger than the state of Nevada. Located in east-central Europe, it is bordered to the east by Russia and the Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia […]

Irish Immigrants

Irish Immigrants in the United States By Kevin Kenny Irish immigrants had a rough start in the United States, stuck in urban poverty and taunted by some of their neighbors. They and their descendants overcame the obstacles and prevailed.  Kevin […]

Italian Immigration

More Italians have migrated to the United States than any other Europeans. Poverty, overpopulation, and natural disaster all spurred Italian emigration. Beginning in the 1870s, Italian birthrates rose and death rates fell. Population pressure became severe, especially in Il Mezzogiorno, […]

Albert Einstein

Born in Ulm, Germany, the young Einstein was dissatisfied with the restrictive schools in Germany. At the age of 16 he moved to Switzerland and graduated from the Federal Institute of Technology. In 1902 he became a clerk with Swiss […]

Rose & Reuben Mattus

The ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs was invented in 1959 by a Russian immigrant, Reuben Mattus, at his kitchen table and manufactured at his family ice cream factory, Senator Frozen Products, in the Bronx. While Reuben handled the marketing and devised […]

Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin

Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin (Russian: Влади́мир Козьми́ч Зворы́кин, Vladimir Koz’mich Zvorykin; 1888 – July 29, 1982)was a Russian inventor, engineer, and pioneer of television technology. Educated in Russia and in France, he spent most of his life in the United States. […]

Dr. Robert Gallo

Robert Charles Gallo is an American biomedical researcher. He is best known for his role in the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the infectious agent responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and in the development of […]