Gender, Race and Identity

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, otherwise known as HERO, comes to a vote today during the city’s local elections. While the provisions of the bill itself are not solely focused on LGBT rights – but rather on categorical discrimination broadly – the protections it offers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity have […]

BY FELIPE ORIÁ Avoidance coping (noun) – A maladaptive mechanism characterized by the effort to avoid dealing with a source of tension or stress. Avoidance coping is common for individuals, but also not a rare sight at the societal level. Brazil is currently showcasing the impressive power of avoidance mechanisms. Facing the choice between a […]

In telling your friends you’ve “discovered” a new restaurant, you imply to have found something you like; something your social circle is not yet “hip” to; something that should be on everyone’s radar but – because of your keen Googling skills or happenstance stroll down Massachusetts Avenue — has in it just a few more […]

Across the country, we all hear the trumpeting of Hispanic Heritage Month. Elected officials, from local leaders to the highest office in the land, have released messages of inspiration, praising the contributions of our Latina/o community. Unfortunately, the media pays less attention to one group of voices, because it is a small group when compared […]

Why the Harvard Kennedy School Must Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day BY DELORIS WILSON AND CHRISTINA FLETES In telling your friends you’ve “discovered” a new restaurant, you imply to have found something you like; something your social circle is not yet “hip” to; something that should be on everyone’s radar but – because of your keen […]

BY TANIA DEL RIO Things have not been quite the same in Mexico since Sept. 26, 2014. It is hard to know for sure what happened that day, and with the release of a report on Sept. 6, 2015, almost a year after, it became painfully obvious that we may never know. What is certain is […]

BY ZACH MONTAGUE Close to a decade into Beijing’s global soft power campaign, not much about the plan has worked. As devised by former President Hu Jintao back in 2007, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has invested billions annually in initiatives worldwide designed to complement China’s economic and military power with renown for its […]

BY SHANOOR SEERVAI This essay is excerpted from the single ‘Daughters of the Red Light: Coming of Age in Mumbai’s Brothels.’ I am seated cross-legged on a brothel floor on a hot April afternoon. The door is ajar. Just beyond it, a disheveled man in a grey pinstriped shirt appears at the top of the […]

While the recession devastated all Americans, Latinos were among those most severely affected, losing two thirds of all their wealth, mainly due to plummeting housing values.

The Obergefell decision is a case that defines a generation. Marriage equality and LGBTQ rights are poised for a victory untenable for generations past. Just twelve years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Lawrence v. Texas and, as Justice Scalia argued in the dissent, doomed the “end of all morals legislation.” Lawrence […]

BY MIA MITCHELL Today, four billion people, or two-thirds of the planet, are offline, but that is rapidly changing. Momentum is building among private, public, and non-profit actors to expand Internet access globally. From Facebook’s Internet.org to the Alliance for Affordable Internet to Oluvus, numerous projects have launched in recent years with the shared goal […]

During a visit with service members in Afghanistan earlier this year, newly installed Secretary of Defense Aston Carter announced he is “very open-minded” about allowing transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. Carter’s speech suggests the military is open to reconsidering its discriminatory ban on transgender military personnel. But we cannot afford to wait. […]