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Actor Anna Deavere Smith’s One-Woman Performance Tells Stories of Unheard Americans

Anna Deavere Smith is incredible. There’s really no other way of putting it. She’s an actor (West Wing, Madame Secretary), a professor and a playwright. Her newest endeavor, “The Pipeline Project” centers around her play “Notes from the Field” – written with inspiration from hundreds of interviews from people of all walks of life. Her plays are one-woman, documentary style…

Sailor Moon, Comic That Helps Japanese LGBTQ Community Cope

Sailor Moon and her girlfriend Sailor Neptune are one of the most popular queer couples in fantasy land. And now LGBTQ youth in Japan have adopted them as the centerpiece of their fast-growing cultural movement. An early ‘90s comic book probably isn’t the first place we’d look for an antidote to modern day intolerance. But like one trans rights activist…

Olympic Volleyball Player Refuses to Remove Hijab

When Doaa El Ghobashy dug her feet into the sand at Rio’s Summer Games fans and media perked up. She wasn’t surprised. But the expected wardrobe chatter quickly took a backseat because, well, Doaa can play. It’s been a relief to read stories about her tenacity, her drive and her powerful effect on a new generation of athletes. Athletes that…

Giant Steps, Music Program For Social Change

Giant Steps believes music can inspire social change. Operating out of Impact Hub San Francisco, they’re bringing together musicians and their fans to connect online and do good in the world. It’s a really creative concept and a big freakin’ deal, because the passion of artists and their community is the stuff movements are made of. This nonprofit is building…

24 Year-Old Elected as Mayor of Brighton, AL

Brandon Dean is the Mayor-elect of Brighton, Alabama, and he’s more than ready to pull up his sleeves and get to work. A fifth-generation Brightonian, Dean has a personal commitment to the well-being of its people. After two internships on Capitol Hill and founding Our Blue Hope – a national political action committee that aims to fight Republican super majority…

Painter’s Project Illustrates Similarity Between East and West Cultures

What do a NYC fashionista and a Pakistani millennial have in common? Ali Hassoun is ready to show ya. He’s a juxtaposition wizard whose paintings cut to the root of what makes us, well, us. Take the fashionista and the young Pakistani out of context, paint them side by side and BAM! You’re left with two women who look a…

Combating Sexualized Latina Stereotypes

For example, Latinas are often imagined as hypersexualized beings, or as not having the capabilities to inhabit roles like ‘teacher’ or ‘mentor’. Sexuality and intellect are almost never considered in conjunction. To this she essentially says, “Hold up––we can be sharp as tacks and wear red dresses too.” Latinas can be quirky intellectuals and make grandma’s killer tamales. Acosta should…

‘Nextdoor’ Founder Uses Empathy to Reduce Racial Profiling

Nirav Tolia is a tech entrepreneur that uses his company to combat racism. Here’s what happened: When a grassroots group from Oakland, CA, called Neighbors for Racial Justice, approached Tolia about the prevalence of racial profiling in his neighborhood social network site called Nextdoor, he know changes needed to be made. From personal experience, Tolia understood what bias could do.…

Head of Salesforce Invests Millions in Bay Area Education

Marc Benioff and his team at Salesforce just dropped $8.5 million and 20,000 hours of volunteer time into Bay Area schools. No big deal, right? Well, no. It’s a pretty big deal. It’s the 4th year in a row Marc’s foundation has donated some serious time and money ($22 million) to SF schools. And the idea is to continue the…

Photographer Teaches City Kids How to ‘Shoot for Peace’

Yasin Osman teaches city kids to shoot. Not like, shoot shoot. He teaches them to be photographers. He hopes that this will keep them away from crime, something he knows intimately. “I don’t know anybody who’s died from cancer,” Osman told The Star. “I only know people who have been killed by gun violence.” Osman – who is also a…