Productive Discomfort

A blog reflection by Joe Levin-Manning, Graduate Coordinator for LGBTQ Programs One thing I think we need to see and hear more of is people feeling uncomfortable. While there is a time and a place for the principle of “safe space” it has now become somewhat of a crutch to not have to face challenging……

While on Greenmount Ave. & Oliver St.

 A reflection written by Jess Myers, Women’s Center Director The last time I passed by this wall was in February 2015. Before the murder of Freddie Gray. Before the Baltimore Uprisings. Before… I don’t remember what was on this wall, if anything. But walking down Greenmount Avenue yesterday afternoon on my way to visit the Monument……

Feminist Click Moments

Originally posted on Women's Center at UMBC:
A post curated by Women’s Center staff member, Daniel This week is Critical Social Justice week!! Yay!! The Women’s Center will be occupying Main Street on Wednesday from 11am to 1pm by bringing our lounge out of the center and into the public! We’ll be doing a number of…

Authenticity in Activism: Reflections from CSJ Organizers

Critical Social Justice organizers Jess Myers, Zach Kosinski, and Jasmine Malhotra share a few of their thoughts on activism, their personal and professional experiences as activists, and social media’s role in activism. JASMINE: I think about the feelings of social justice activism as being something that infuses within all parts of your life. Social justice activism……

Learn more about this year’s theme Creating Brave Spaces!

Critical Social Justice week is fast approaching (February 16th to the 20th) and the theme this year is “Creating Brave Spaces”. To unpack and explore this idea, we had the Critical Social Justice Student Alliance tell us what the theme meant to them and how we can use it in our social justice work. Emily Eaglin, incoming……

Thoughts on Self-Care and Social Justice

Critical Social Justice organizers Amelia Meman, Lisa Gray, and Megan Tagle Adams share a few of their thoughts about self-care in/as social justice work.  AMELIA: Coming up on CSJ 2015, I’m thinking about generosity, compassion, and sustainability, especially in regard to how these connect with movement building and the self. I think about generosity in regard……

What’s Up with “What’s the Tea?”: Starts, Stops & Lessons Learned in Social Justice Work

By Lisa Gray, Assistant Director of Student Life, Cultural and Spiritual Diversity.  Earlier this year, Joakina Stone, then a Res Life colleague and collateral work staff with Student Life’s Mosaic Center, along with an amazing group of students, staff and faculty, helped us to co-create our new Mosaic Social Justice discussion series. We exchanged a bunch……

Guest Post: Black Lives Matter and Mental Brave Spaces

This guest post was written by Ty Philip and was originally featured on the Women’s Center blog.  When discussing the concept and implementation of brave spaces, a lot of the conversation revolves around the idea that these spaces are inherently physical. We speak of transforming places into brave spaces, designating that certain locations at certain……

Critical Social Justice Keynote Speakers Reflections on Ferguson

There have been so many blog posts written within the past three months since Michael Brown’s murder and especially within the past 48 hours documenting the anger, the sadness, the rage in the aftermath of what has (and is) taking place in Ferguson (read this or this or this just for starters).  There is nothing that I……

Why Equality Isn’t Fair: A Lesson from Fourth Grade

This post is written by Madison Miller. It was originally featured on the Women’s Center WordPress, which you can find here. With much discussion in Women’s Center staff meetings about actively applying our work in the Center as student staff members to other areas of our lives, I have recently been thinking a lot about……