For the first time in history a US flight was staffed by an all female African American flight crew

How has it taken this long? Such a cool profile story, and during Black History Month, too!

Daughters who Look like Sluts

There is no better response than this:

Celeb of the Week

When Katherine Heigel becomes the voice of reason, I start to get nervous. But it's nice to see how she has matured. However, the true thumbs up celebrity is Patrick Stewart.

"My mother had no escape route. There were no refuges she could run to; no helplines to call; no advocates to speak out for her. No one came to help, even though everyone knew what was happening behind our closed doors. The small houses in our road were close together, and every Monday morning I walked to school with a bowed head, praying that I wouldn't run into a neighbour who had heard the weekend's rows. The police, when they were called, were little help. I remember hearing them say things like "She must have provoked him", or "Well, Mrs Stewart, it takes two to make a fight". They had no idea. My mother did nothing to provoke the violence she endured –- even if she had, violence is an unacceptable way of dealing with conflict."

That quote was recent (the end of 2011), but the message below is from 2006 that he did for Amnesty International. A good reminder that sometimes it doesn't take two to make a fight.



What a brave man for sharing his story and using it to advocate for better laws, support, and care for domestic abuse survivors! I'm excited that a feminist looks like Captain Picard and Professor X, but most importantly like Patrick Stewart.

Black Herstory Month & Women Film Makers

I've been thinking a lot lately about the intersection of gender and race. With February being Black History Month (BHM), I especially found this article interesting, as it describes how BHM really mostly celebrates Black men.

Because of this, I wanted to draw a little attention to Ava DuVernay, the first Black woman to win Best Director for Dramatic Film at Sundance.



In line with this trend, 2012 marks the 80th year that the Academy Awards has failed to nominate any female film directors, which means there have only been 4 women nominated, all of them White. Out of these 4 White women, only one has ever won (Kathryn Bigelow). Can any of you even name the other 3 who were nominated?** Probably not, because unlike the male directors who get multiple nominations over many years, Hollywood (like many careers) makes continued success for a woman incredibly difficult.

So congratulations to Ava DuVernay, for not only achieving success, but for being an inspiration to all of us during this important month and the other 11 of the year. I hope she gets the support and opportunity to continue making great films and pave the path for the first woman of color to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar. In the meantime, petition your local movie theaters to bring her film Middle of Nowhere to their screens.

** Female directors nominated for Best Director in the Academy Awards: Kathryn Bigelow (2009 The Hurt Locker), Sofia Coppola (2003 Lost in Translation), Jane Campion (1993 The Piano), and Lina Wertmüller (1976 Seven Beauties)