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What Will A Man Do For His Daughter When It's Her Turn To Face The Evils Of The World?

When you can't talk about it anymore, sing about it.

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When I was growing up, we were taught that everything and everyone is equal. But now? It's becoming clear that our kids are growing up in a world that doesn't treat them fairly.

This song is about the idea of raising your kids in this violent and unjust world. This video highlights the experiences of two people: one a mother, Marissa Alexander, and one a child, Trayvon Martin. Both lives were dramatically affected by the violence and injustice that still prevails today.

The song, "The Body Electric," by Hurray for the Riff Raff, just won the award for Political Folk Song of the Year.

Its message is so beyond political. It's about justice. And how everyone deserves it.

Ever wonder what the story is behind a song? Well, in addition to the super-moving acoustic guitars and violins and vocals, this video answers the "behind the music" question.

So what *is* this song about?

Violence.

Injustice.


A system that doesn't work.

It didn't work for Marissa Alexander...

This song is about people in her position.

Or anyone facing unjust violence.

It's about anyone who wants injustice to stop.

It's also about how injustice like the killing of Trayvon Martin is not that different from Marissa's experience.


The song ends on a scary note.

What will happen when the injustice of the world is passed on to our children? To our daughters?


If we don't DO SOMETHING...

The song will just repeat.

So Hurray for the Riff Raff did something. They wrote a song about it. Just to make more people notice.

Tell someone you love about this song. There's power in noticing. There's power in hearing. There's power in music.

Yep. This song really did deserve an award.

Education

A school assignment asked for 3 benefits of slavery. This kid gave the only good answer.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

Trameka Brown-Berry/Facebook

A school assignment asked for 3 "good" reasons for slavery.



It's not uncommon for parents to puzzle over their kids' homework.

Sometimes, it's just been too long since they've done long division for them to be of any help. Or teaching methods have just changed too dramatically since they were in school.

And other times, kids bring home something truly inexplicable.
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Family

A kid's wrong answer to this riddle went viral. It shows a lot about how we process death.

People got a huge kick out his response.


Teacher Bret Turner thought he'd kick off the morning with his first-grade students using a little riddle.

On the whiteboard in the front of the class, he scrawled it out in black marker:

"I am the beginning of everything, the end of everywhere. I'm the beginning of eternity, the end of time & space."

One student raised their hand, the first to venture a guess.

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Identity

Non-Americans are sharing the ‘dead giveaway’ someone is American and they are pretty right

The dead giveaway is when they call me "honey" or "sweetie" or "darling."

via Flickr, Flickr, and Flickr

Three American tourists enjoying the sights.

One of the most interesting things about traveling the world is noticing how people from your country are a bit different from the place you’re visiting. In America, you’re mostly around fellow countrymen so it’s hard to notice the things that make us stand out.

But when you travel abroad, you quickly notice that no matter how hard you try to blend in, there are a lot of dead giveaways that show people you’re from the states that go way beyond your accent.

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americans
Parenting

Teenage girl shamed for her ‘distracting’ outfit fights back in a very funny way

“[Because] she has a figure she was told she had to change.”

Photo from Facebook page.

A clever message written on her T-shirt.

A Lawton, Oklahoma, student who goes by the Facebook user name Rose Lynn had the last laugh after being sent home from school for wearing an outfit deemed "distracting." Rose Lynn believes her outfit attracted the attention of school officials because of her figure.

She proved it by posting a photo on Facebook of her modest outfit, which consisted of black leggings, a t-shirt, long cardigan, and boots. In her post, she wrote that she was sent home "because I'm developed farther than the average girl my age," and because she's a "CURVY woman." Rose Lynn also thinks the appropriate response shouldn't have been to tell her to cover up, but to teach boys to "to respect the boundaries of young ladies."

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women
Science

She tattooed half her face and you'd never know it. Her skills are just that good.

This incredible medical tattoo technology is giving renewed hope to burn victims.

All images via the CBS/YouTube

Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts...


Meet Samira Omar.

The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.

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Pop Culture

Merriam-Webster announced the 2023 'Word of the Year,’ and it says a lot about today’s world

Plus, some other terms that made 2023 a historic year.

via TIFF 2022/Wikimedia Commons

Taylor Swift at 2022 Toronto International Film Festival Red Carpet Day 2.

The wordsmiths over at Merriam-Webster have announced their official “Word of the Year for 2023,” they say it’s something we are “thinking about, writing about, aspiring to, and judging more” than ever.

The word is authentic.

According to the dictionary, the most common definitions of authentic are “not false or imitation,” “being true to one's own personality, spirit, or character,” and “worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact.”

Merriam-Webster says the word saw a “substantial increase” in lookups this year. That’s probably because we now live in a world where artificial intelligence, deepfake technology and questionable memes challenge our basic notions of reality.

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language
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