Denali - Returning to Our Roots

As we honor our first citizens, the tallest mountain in North America will be renamed Denali, with an executive order by President Obama today. The name was changed from Mount McKinley, regarded as an example of cultural imperialism in which a Native American name with historical roots was replaced by an American one having little to do with the place.

Denali, means “the high one” or “the great one.”

“There’s no denying that for some Americans, the deck’s been stacked against them, sometimes for generations, and that’s been true of many Native Americans,” Mr. Obama said at the time. “But if we’re working together, we can make things better.”

We are working together as white people stop putting native peoples lower on their hierarchies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/mount-mckinley-will-be-renamed-denali.html?_r=0

Girls Can Be Everything - Their Clothes Tell it All

So many of the clothes marketed to girls reinforce the gender hierarchy where boys are taught to be smart and strong, and girls are taught to be weak and shop.

A group of mothers has gotten together to create clothes that speak to the fact that the possibilities for girls are endless, and that we should not be encouraging girls even from the time they are born to strive to be pink and pretty.

So take a look, people who have an influence on supplying clothing for girls, and even if you don't buy any clothes, the images can be uplifting.

http://www.upworthy.com/tired-of-stereotypical-girls-clothes-these-women-did-something-about-it-then-banded-together?c=ufb1

Hey Men, Want to Have a Better Relationship with Women?

Most men do many things day in and day out that indirectly or directly contribute to our culture of gender inequality.

Here is a great list of 35 ways that men can further gender equality in their own lives. This list is not a surprise to women, but might be to men. And guess what men, if you do some of these things, chances are great you will have a better relationship with women, including your sex life.

http://www.xojane.com/issues/feminism-men-practical-steps

Nature - A Remedy When Climbing the Hierarchy Loses Its Appeal

"Nature Rx: A New Campaign for Nature" is a great video giving us the perspective of how being outside in beautiful places can cure many ills. Produced like a drug commercial, it can sooth the soul and clear the mind, and help us to discover what is really important in life.

The video says that "if you are overly cynical, jaded, or emotionally numb, you might need to increase your dose of nature. Side effects may include spontaneous euphoria, taking yourself less seriously, and being in a good mood for no apparent reason."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf5TgVRGND4

On Same Day, Live TV News Shooting and Walmart Stops Selling Assault Weapons

Are we seeing some sense about gun control in this country starting to happen? Are we maybe turning the corner just a smidgen?

This morning's murder on live TV of a reporter and a camera operator happened the same day that Walmart is announcing it will no longer sell assault weapons.

We could of course ask the obvious question of why did they ever sell assault weapons, but we will look to the future, and try to make progress from the past. Violence and the threat of it have always been very successful control tactics of those wanting to maintain hierarchies, including the mostly men who run the NRA and the males who want to feel free to be able to commit almost all of the mass shootings that occur in this country, including the one today in Virginia.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/walmart-halts-sale-of-assault-weapons-20150826

Women's Right to Vote - 95th Anniversary

                                       

On August 26, 1920, women's national suffrage was formally adopted into the Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The last needed state to ratify the amendment to the Constitution, Tennessee, did so on August 18.

Image courtesy of Facebook.