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Bryson Tiller Celebrates All Shades Of Black Women In New Video

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While we don’t know what to expect from Bryson Tiller’s new album, “True to Self,” we know one thing for sure: the music video for the album’s first single, “Somethin Tells Me,” is true to the diversity of black beauty. 


The video, which stars a bevy of overwhelmingly attractive models rocking almost every shade of melanin under the sun, was released last Thursday.


Although Tiller is frequently seen popping up in the video ― which takes place on a stunning beach resort ― it’s all too easy to overlook the “TrapSoul” singer. 





The video, directed by Elijah Steenor, follows the May 11 release of three singles from Tiller’s sophomore album. In “Something Tells Me,” Tiller croons about a relationship’s inevitable demise. 


You can watch the “Something Tells Me” video above. 

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Leonardo DiCaprio Calls For Action After Trump Pulls Out Of Climate Deal

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Climate change activist Leonardo DiCaprio offered a way to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of an international agreement to fight rising temperatures: support organizations that take the problem seriously.


Trump announced his decision to abandon the Paris Agreement, which includes nearly every other nation, on Thursday as part of his “America First” mission. Because the United States is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the president’s choice is a huge blow to the global effort to fight climate change. Trump has referred to the issue as a “hoax” in the past and is a known climate change denier. 


The star of “Before the Flood,” a 2016 documentary about climate change, urged followers over Twitter to support three activist organizations: Indivisible, Stand Up America and the National Resources Defense Council. The NRDC is currently collecting donations to fund legal action against Trump’s policies on the environment.






”Today, our planet suffered,” DiCaprio tweeted shortly after news of Trump’s decision broke. “It’s more important than ever to take action.”






The call to back out of the agreement, brokered in December 2015, was derided by former President Barack Obama, the United Nations and scores of other world leaders.


More celebrities chimed in with their two cents, as well.


“This is urgent. You have to vote in 2018,” John Legend said over Twitter.


“America First! Earth last!” tweeted Michael Moore, who called Trump’s decision “a crime against humanity.”


Chelsea Handler quipped: “I’m guessing that Donald Trump doesn’t see the irony in making his announcement to leave the Paris Agreement while standing in a garden.” 


Read a few of the responses below.






























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This 'Elegy For The Arctic' Is A Soul-Stirring Love Song To Our Planet

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Composers typically perform their masterworks in concert halls and similar venues, but the award-winning Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi chose a different spot for debuting an original piece he wrote last year at the request of Greenpeace: the Arctic Ocean.


Floating on a platform in the Arctic Ocean, Einaudi plays his soul-stirring “Elegy for the Arctic” on a grand piano, with Norway’s towering Wahlenbergbreen Glacier slowly melting in the background. Greenpeace filmed the moving tribute, which you can watch in the above “SuperSoul Sunday” video, providing a somber soundtrack for a majestic yet fragile ecosystem in crisis.

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Hillary Clinton, 'Sickened' by Portland Stabbings, Says Hatred Shouldn't Be Tolerated

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The recent stabbings in Portland, Oregon, of three men who tried to intervene in an anti-Muslim attack left Hillary Clinton “just sickened,” she told a crowd of booksellers Thursday evening in New York City.


In a conversation at BookExpo 2017 with author Cheryl Strayed, the former presidential candidate condemned the stabbings, which left two of the men dead and one wounded after they confronted a passenger who spewed racist and Islamophobic epithets at two girls on a train.


I’m deeply troubled by that,” Clinton said, “and that’s not the only incident that we’ve seen where all of a sudden it appears that there are attitudes and feelings that are bursting through the veneer of civilization.”


Though she declined to use President Donald Trump’s name, Clinton argued that the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign deepened national divides and stoked resentments.


“What I saw in this election was a deliberate effort to blow the top off ... to basically say, whatever feeling you have, whatever resentment, however angry you might be, get out there and express it. It’s OK to take it out on other people, verbally or physically, as we saw during the campaign,” she said. “That is incredibly dangerous. That is unleashing a level of vitriol and defensiveness, hatred, that I don’t think we should tolerate.”


Clinton, who was at BookExpo to promote an upcoming memoir, drew several chilling comparisons from her experiences as secretary of state, as a senator and as first lady to make her point. “I will tell you, it doesn’t take much to rip off the politeness and the accommodation that really keeps diverse peoples working and living together. You saw it in Bosnia .... You saw it in Rwanda. I’ve seen it in many other places, where political leaders, for their own purposes, their own power, greed, ideology, religion, whatever it might be, really light those flames.”


In response to reported outbreaks of hate speech and violence, as well as deepening partisan divides, Clinton urged Americans to vote and get involved.


I am hopeful, but I really think hope needs to be linked to a strategy for dealing with what we are facing,” she told the audience. “Some of it is very personal acts. [Kindness] is a much-overlooked attribute these days. Showing kindness, showing support for one another.”

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24 'Harry Potter' Superfans Share The Stories Behind Their Magical Ink

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For some, curling up with J.K. Rowling’s legendary Harry Potter series is a blissful childhood memory. Who didn’t dream of receiving their very own Hogwarts acceptance letter when they were a kid?


But for the true devotees, the magic never died. Harry Potter remains a powerful force in their imaginations and identities. Their love of all things H.P. is not just written on their hearts ― it’s right there on their flesh. 


In honor of the 20th anniversary of the very first Harry Potter book ― Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone in the U.S.), published on June 26, 1997 ― we asked 24 superfans to share the stories behind their enchanted ink. For some, the epic tale and its themes of courage, hope and magic proved invaluable during the more difficult hurdles life throws your way. For others, well, they just really love Snape. 


1. Holly Schwartz’s Stars



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


My tattoo is of the stars at the top of each page of each book (the American versions).


When did you get it? 


I got it in March 2016, and I was 21.


Why is this image special to you?


I’ve read the Harry Potter books countless times. I had to buy a new set of books because I read the first so many times they were falling apart! I read them every single year. I used to do it over the summer but just last year my coworker said that she reads them starting at Halloween because that’s really when the story started, so I started doing that with her. 


This tattoo is just a reminder that Harry Potter is always there for me when I need it ― it’s a comfort for me. Whenever I see it, I feel happy that I was able to find Harry Potter and that my life was changed for the better by it.


What’s your Hogwarts house?


Gryffindor!


2. Ela Darling’s Dewey Decimal Tribute




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books: 


The tattoo on my back is the Dewey Decimal and Cutter number for Harry Potter.



When did you get it? 


I got it on my 22nd birthday, just after finishing my master’s degree in library and information science. 



Why is this image special to you? 


I’ve been a Harry Potter fan for years. I was heavily involved in the Wizard Rock and Harry Potter fandoms at the time. Most of my social group came from the H.P. fandom. I had a tradition of getting a new tattoo for each birthday, which I stopped after my 24th birthday, but the idea was to sort of commemorate some aspect of my life over the course of the previous year with my birthday tattoos. I had just finished my master’s degree at the University of Illinois. Melville Dewey founded the library school there, so I decided to get the Dewey and Cutter code for the Harry Potter books as they were catalogued in my university library.



3. Lesley Swan’s Patronus



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


My tattoo is of my patronus, which is a swan. My patronus is meant to be my guardian, which is perfect because that also happens to be my last name. I couldn’t believe it when I did the test. It also has the classic phrase “always” which was Snape’s response to Dumbledore when asked, “After all this time?” The “A” is also in the form of the Deathly Hallows. 


When did you get it?


I got it in August of 2016. I was 26 at the time. 


Why is this image special to you?


This tattoo is special to me for many reasons. I have been with my boyfriend for 12 years, and the “always” speaks to how I feel about him. Similarly with Snape, no matter how much time goes by, I will always have that love for him. The swan is special to me because I will eventually marry [my boyfriend], and my last name will change. I will always be a Swan and having that reminder in beautiful artwork makes me happy. 


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


Gryffindor.


4. Samantha Kiel’s Lily




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


The tattoo is of an asphodel (a variety of lily), with the stem fading into the word “always.” Snape’s first words to Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone were “Potter! What would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood” ― the ingredients for the Draught of the Living Death, which Harry perfects with the help of Snape’s old textbook in Book Six. “Always” is perhaps the most significant Snape quote, regarding his love for Lily. 


When did you get it?


Nov. 26, 2016, on my 26th birthday. 


Why is this image special to you? Has its meaning changed over time? 


Snape is my favorite character ― hands down ― and his love for Lily, its extension to Harry, and how he reacts to his feelings of guilt and grief with isolation make him incredibly relatable. We’ve all had those people that have irrevocably changed our lives. The Harry Potter series was my first obsession, and I knew that I wanted to get a H.P. tattoo, but I didn’t want it to be your typical H.P. tattoo. 


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


Slytherin. 



5. Brian Arruda’s Protection Spell






Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books: 


I got this tattoo when my son was born. He was born at 23 weeks gestation, on the brink of viability. He was 1 pound, 5 ounces, considered a micro-preemie. He was given a 17 percent chance of making it, and [it was] assumed he would live with serious medical complications the rest of his life. Instead, he did the unbelievable, and made it out of the NICU (just over four months) with no real issues relating to his extreme prematurity.


His third birthday is coming up next month and he has blossomed into an amazing child with a personality to match his story. I got the protection spell along with his name, hoping to give him a little extra “magic” something. I still like to think it made a difference. It doesn’t hurt that his initial care physician in the NICU (one of among hundreds) pulled me aside after seeing it a week later and told me how he loved the books. We still visit the NICU and see the doctors regularly. It wasn’t until we got out of the hospital that we recognized how incredibly small the odds that Cam made it through his prematurity without serious learning deficiencies or other more major health issues ... it had to be the protection spell!


My first son was born prematurely due to a car accident. My wife was 25 weeks pregnant at the time. A driver hit us head on, coming around bend. He fell asleep at the wheel. Grayson was born within an hour of the accident, after we were all rushed to the closest hospital that could deal with our major injuries. He only survived a few minutes; the injuries sustained in the crash were too great for him to overcome. He was 2 pounds, 2 ounces, so pretty big compared to his brother. My wife was touch-and-go for about a week. It was the scariest time of my life. She spent a month in the TICU, and needed seven surgeries before she was able to go to a facility to rehab. I have often related the losses suffered in Harry Potter to those in my own family.



Losing family is never easy, losing a child even less so. The pain that Harry accepts as part of his life is something I can personally understand. That sense of loss never leaves you or your mind for very long. I always loved the story, and grew up reading these books (I am 33) so I literally grew into adulthood with these characters. To me Harry and the Hogwarts family show that perseverance and love can conquer even the worst the world can throw at you. I guess that’s a little deep considering the subject matter of an imaginary magical world, but the escape into this story has always helped me get through my darkest times.


One day my son Cameron will be old enough to enjoy Harry Potter, too, so together we can witness again what it means for Harry to overcome and persevere through it all, with his friends and family by his side. 


When did you get it? 


I got the tattoo in June of 2014, a couple weeks after my son was born. I was 30 years old.


Why is this image special to you? 



The meaning has only gotten stronger to me as time goes on and my son continues to hit milestones that doctors weren’t sure he ever could. It is pretty cool to look over and see that reminder all the time.


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


I am a Ravenclaw according to Pottermore, but I relate to Gryffindor, too!



6. Madison Rootenberg’s Animagus



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books: 





My tattoo is of Sirius Black in his animagus form with the symbol for transformation on his hind leg (a tattoo the actor has in the movies on his chest). Sirius plays a pivotal role in Harry’s life, showing him true family love for the first time after his parents passed. Sirius first showed himself to Harry in his dog form.


When did you get it?


I got it when I moved back home to Los Angeles after college, age 22.


Why is this image special to you?


There are many layers to why it’s so special to me! My baby sister was still living at home at the time, and she and I share a fierce and passionate love for the Harry Potter books. She helped me design it; not only is it my homage to my intro to magic, but to my sister. It also connects me to every other magic-lover and seeker in the world. And finally, it is also representative of how I believe animals should be treated, with the same respect and dignity as humans. 


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


I would consider myself to have attended Ilvermorny School in Pukwudgie house! 





7. Katie Streeter’s Deathly Hallows




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:



I have a tattoo of the Deathly Hallows on the inside of my right wrist. The Deathly Hallows (also the name of the final and seventh book in the series) refers to a story originally told by Beedle the Bard, that was passed down through wizarding folklore. It tells the story of three items given to the Peverell brothers by Death: the elder wand, the cloak of invisibility and the resurrection stone. It is said that whomever is in possession of all three is the master of death, and all three items make appearances throughout the series. 



When did you get it?


I got in in September of 2014. I was 26 at the time. 




Why is this image special to you?




I was an avid Harry Potter fan growing up, standing in line at midnight for the book releases and locking myself in my room until I finished to avoid spoilers. The whole thing. My sister and I both grew up with it, and it played a big part in our childhood. As we got older, one of her first (of many) tattoos was a sleeve of the Marauder’s Map on her left arm and a smaller Deathly Hallows tattoo on her wrist. She passed away in August of 2014, and a few weeks later I went and got the same tattoo. Its meaning has definitely changed for me; every time I look at it I’m reminded of her. I think in a way that’s how you defeat death, by always keeping the memory of that person alive.  



What’s your Hogwarts house?


I’m a Gryffindor. 


8. Hallie Cooper’s Lightning Bolt



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


It is a white lightning bolt and it encompasses my overall love for the entire Harry Potter series. I fell in love with the books in fifth grade and was at every midnight book launch once I was old enough to attend. Of course I own all the movies, too.


When did you get it?


I got it when I was 27. I have wanted it since I was 19, though, it just took me a while to pull the trigger. I was always too scared to actually get a tattoo because I’m not good with needles. I went with a friend of mine when she got her tattoo and it lessened my fear about it. A week later, I got the lightning bolt.


Why is this image special to you?


The image is special to me because it represents all of what Harry Potter is: strength, courage, dignity, bravery and best of all ― magic.


What’s your Hogwarts house?


Oh, Slytherin for sure.


9. Madeline Mikucki’s Sleeves




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


Harry Potter has played such a big role in my life. As a child, reading the books truly took me to a different world full of magic and mystery. I have always been into witches and the macabre, even as a child, and combing the two together through the writings of J.K. Rowling was just simply the best for my 11-year-old self.


My family totally helped in developing my love, too. One Christmas my mother made me and my sister our very own Hogwarts letters along with homemade spell books. Nowadays, as an adult woman, Harry Potter still instills the magic within me. It will always be a part of me and I look forward to many more movies and books from our beloved J.K. I can’t wait to finish my sleeve and have both children and adults enjoy looking at it and starting up Harry Potter conversations. 



When did you get it?


I started my Harry Potter sleeve two years ago and have been adding to it as recently as April.




What’s your Hogwarts house? 




I am a Ravenclaw and Thunderbird (Ilvermorny house).




10. Brooke Borden’s Lupin Homage




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


It’s a wolf with the back end of it transforming into a night scene with some stars and the moon, representing Lupin and the changes that he goes through due to the moon. I wanted to have a werewolf representation that was more artistic and less gruesome than the movie version. 



When did you get it? 


I got this done last year. I was 20.




Why is this image special to you?


This image is special to me because Lupin is one of my favorite characters in the series and I’ve always resonated with his outcast story and admired the fact that he had friends who accepted and included him and never thought badly of him for who he was. I don’t think I’ll ever not be fond of his character and his story, so the meaning of this tattoo will always remain for me. 



What’s your Hogwarts house?


According to Pottermore, I’m in Gryffindor.


11. Alexis Bleich’s Abstract Harry Potter




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


When I got my tattoo, I didn’t want something huge or elaborate because at the time I was looking for a job and needed something I could hide. I went for the simple rims of his glasses and the lightning bolt. My favorite thing about it is that if people aren’t into Harry Potter, then they don’t always realize what the tattoo is.


When did you get it?


I believe I was 18 when I got the tattoo. I had just graduated high school and my best friend and I at the time got matching ones.


Why is this image special to you?


When I first got the tattoo, it was significant because my best friend and I got them matching. We both love Harry Potter. We went to premiers together and spent our entire grad bash at Harry Potter World at Universal. We really aren’t friends anymore, and as far as I know, she actually had her tattoo covered up. But this tattoo actually sparked the best conversation of my whole college experience. My first night in college I met some of my long time friends over them being in love with my tattoo. It means so much to me.


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


I’m a Slytherin! And proud. It doesn’t mean i’m evil, just cunning.


12. Eric Miranda’s Deathly Hallows



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


It’s the Deathly Hallows with the lightning bolt scar on top.


When did you get it?


I got it at 19, which was back in 2012.


Why is this image special to you?


To me it was the beginning of the series, the lightning bolt scar that started it all, and the end, the Deathly Hallows that signified acceptance of death and loss.


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


Gryffindor!


13. Brooke Hodge’s Stars



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


I always knew I wanted to get a Harry Potter tattoo, but I knew I wanted to get something a little less common than other H.P. tattoos I’d seen. Not that the Deathly Hallows aren’t cool, or the “always” tattoos, but I wanted something that a true H.P. fan would recognize right off the bat and something that might make others ask the significance. So that’s how I ended up with the stars from the corners of the pages. It helps to separate the people who are solely H.P. movie fans from the bookworms.


When did you get it? 


Ironically enough, I actually went with one of my good friends and we both got Harry Potter tattoos on Daniel Radcliffe’s birthday a couple of years back. It was totally unintentional and I didn’t know until I checked Twitter later that day. It was July 23, 2014, and I was 19. 


Why is this image special to you?


Those books were such a big part of my childhood and experience growing up. The stars were always a welcoming and familiar sight anytime I cracked open a book from the series. I got the tattoo the summer after my first year of college, which was a particularly challenging time for me. I had a rough time with my major and ended up changing and had a falling out with my roommate. It was a very isolating time and it took a lot for me to even want to go back to the same school.


The following year the RA of my new dorm played Quidditch and after finding out that I had a Harry Potter tattoo she practically dragged me to a practice. It introduced me to so many people who I had an instant connection with. Harry Potter is unique in that way. People really connect with it and get so excited to meet people that are equally as into it.


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


I’m a proud Gryffindor.


14. Carla Dobryman’s Shield Charm



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books: 


I thought about which Harry Potter symbol or quote I wanted to get for years. There were so many directions I could have taken, but I ultimately decided on a simple spell: “protego.” It is a shield charm that can be applied to many other types of charms, intended to create this magical barrier to protect something or someone from harm. It’s used in the books dozens of times, from Harry protecting himself against spells casted at him by Death Eaters and Voldemort to the barrier put up at the final Battle of Hogwarts to protect the castle. 



When did you get it? 


I got it on May 30, 2012. I was 19 at the time.




Why is this image special to you?




I chose this spell for a fairly particular and intimate reason. I have suffered from depression and anxiety for the majority of my life and for a handful of my teenage years I engaged in various acts of self-harm. Right below my tattoo, you can see faint markings of previous self-harm scars. I got the tattoo right there as a reminder that I can use the resources I have and I can remind myself of the things that make me happy in order to protect myself from the “Death Eaters” in my own mind. Over the years, as my scars fade, it is a constant reminder to always protect myself and those I love from anything that makes me unhappy, uncomfortable or upset.




What’s your Hogwarts house? 



Ravenclaw, with Hufflepuff tendencies.


15. Sophie Wilson’s “All Was Well”



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books: 


My tattoo is the last three words from the seventh Harry Potter book: “All was well.” As a child I was always a huge fan of the books. My dad and I read them together while I was growing up, and when I got old enough, I read them aloud to my entire family on road trips! When I was 8 years old, we got a puppy and I insisted we name him Harry Potter after my favorite book series. Harry and I grew up together.


When did you get it?


I had been thinking that I wanted to get a Harry Potter–inspired tattoo throughout college, but didn’t make the final decision until Harry (our dog) passed away when I was 20 years old. 


Why is this image special to you?


I originally got the tattoo because I wanted to make sure I remembered Harry (my dog) every day when I saw the tattoo on my wrist. He was sick for a long time before he passed away and I spent his final minutes with him ― it seemed like a fitting reminder that in the end, everything was okay and that he lived a long and happy life. As I’ve spent more time with the tattoo, I feel like it also symbolized a a shift for me personally, from childhood to adulthood. Harry Potter (the character from the books) and my dog are such wonderful reminders of my childhood and family!


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


I would love to say Gryffindor, but I was sorted on Pottermore once and ended up in Slytherin. Not sure how that happened!


16. Miranda Martini’s Deathly Hallows




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books: 


The tattoo is of the Deathly Hallows — a triangle with a circle inside and a vertical line running through it. It represents the elder wand, the invisibility cloak and the resurrection stone, the three items that you must possess to master death.


When did you get it?


I got it two years ago, when I was 25 and finishing my masters in the U.K.




Why is this image special to you?


I’ve been a giant Harry Potter nerd my entire life, and when I see other people with a Deathly Hallows tattoo, I recognize them instantly as being My People. I like that feeling of community. I knew I wanted a tattoo but had been handwringing for months about what to get. Eventually I decided to let go of the idea of having “great art” on my body and just be part of a fun nerd club instead.


What’s your Hogwarts house?


#Hufflepuff4Lyfe



17. Ioné van Heerden’s “All Is Well”




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


My tattoo is a quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It’s the very last line in the book: “All was well.”


When did you get it?


I got it in April 2016. I was 24 at the time.


Why is this image special to you?


I have been a Harry Potter fan since the age of 10. I grew up reading the books and waited with great anticipation every time a new book was to be released. I think the reason I chose this quote is because it’s so symbolic of the fact that so many bad things happened to the characters in the books: They lost loved ones, but in the end everything was okay. I cling to that, that all will be well for me, too. 



What’s your Hogwarts house? 


I am a proud Gryffindor. 


18. Chris Mesler’s Deathly Hallows




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books: 


My tattoo is of the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, located on my right arm just above my wrist.



When did you get it?


I got it about a year ago now, I was 21 at the time.


Why is this image special to you?


I chose the Deathly Hallows symbol for its philosophical undertones. Someone who possesses all three is supposed to be a master of death, and to me this symbol represents my own struggle to “master” death, and come to terms with my own mortality, something that is a part of life for all of us.


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


I am a proud member of Hufflepuff and plan to get a tattoo of the crest eventually as well!


19. Elizabeth Canova’s Stars




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


Two of my eight tattoos are Harry Potter–related. I got my first H.P. one in 2014, when I was 22. It’s a small black lightning bolt, and it was my fourth tattoo. I knew I definitely wanted something related to the series but the Deathly Hallows seemed too common and more specific to the D.H. story. My next tattoo was the one pictured above. It’s the stars in the corner of the pages of the series. 



When did you get it? 


I got this tattoo in September 2016, when I went to visit my cousin who lives an hour from Universal in Florida. We got our tattoos, then spent the day at Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It’s even more special that I got to share the experience with my cousin. 


Why is this image special to you?


The meanings have not changed, but my feelings about them have. A lot of people don’t always draw the connection to H.P. immediately, since they are not super obvious, but those who do recognize the symbols ― it feels like a special connection, and makes me love them even more. 


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


Slytherin.


20. Lindsey Ruth Wilson’s Golden Snitch




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


My tiny, hidden golden snitch. Not much explanation necessary, as it’s played many vital roles in our most beloved seeker’s life. 




When did you get it?


I had this done in 2010, a few days after turning 18. 




Why is this image special to you?



The golden snitch held the most significance to me because it was always something that Harry was striving for. It stood for my goals and dreams: No matter how flighty and swift they may be, they are still golden. Also the words that appear near the end of Book Seven, “I open at the close,” spoke to me like nothing else had before. I was 18, my childhood was closing in, I was leaving my hometown and opening up to a new life at college in the city of my dreams. It was too perfect. Now, at 24, I can vouch that the message still holds meaning, as I’m learning and growing with life’s ebbs and flows. I may be constantly closing doors, but almost always never without opening a window. 


What’s your Hogwarts house?


Gryffindor.




21. Beatriz Da Silva’s Scar And Deathly Hallows



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


I have two tattoos. Harry’s scar on my left wrist and the Deathly Hallows symbol on my right wrist.


When did you get it?


I got them in 2010. I had just turned 23.


Why is this image special to you?


Both images are very special to me. Harry’s scar is a reminder that all of us go through dark times, but we all have the chance to get out of these stronger if only we have friends and the necessary aid. (I had been bullied in school, so I had no friends. I started making friends when I found out on the internet that other fans were organizing events to know each other, so I went to one of these events and kept going every time there was one in the city. This was in 2006, and I’m still friends with several of them). The Deathly Hallows image is a reminder that, although we may have power, not everything is available to us. My aunt died before I got it, so I always relate the resurrection stone to her.


What’s your Hogwarts house?


Slytherin, out and proud! 


22. Alisha Stewart’s Deathly Hallows



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


I have the Deathly Hallows symbol on my right side.


When did you get it?


I got the tattoo almost two years ago at the age of 26.


Why is this image special to you? Has its meaning changed over time? 


This image in particular was special because (in the book,) as Hermione began to tell the tale of the Peverell brothers, the presumed original owners of the hallows, I got chills. This is what I had been waiting for! All along I’d been on this journey and finally, here it was, an eery children’s bedtime turned reality and finally, it was time to end Voldemort and his crusade once and for all. While it was a symbol marked by death and destruction, to me it became a symbol of victory and triumph and a perfect ending to an adventure I had been on from fifth grade into my adulthood. 


What’s your Hogwarts house? 


Gryffindor! 


23. Rachael Whitman’s Plot Twist




Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


I have the word “always.” on the outside of my right wrist. Even though it may seem simple to muggles, to the Potter fans out there I think we can all agree this was one of the biggest plot twists J.K could have graced us with.



When did you get it?


I got this tattoo in February of 2016. I was 24 years old.



Why is this image special to you?


The series of events that lead to the famous conversation between Dumbledore and Snape will forever be one of the biggest plot twists in fictional history. Not only did it change Harry’s life, but it changed mine. It allowed me to understand that love was strong, unwavering and infallible, but at the same time it was dark, painful and daunting. I was able to sympathize with this concept and I still hold it dear to my heart today. If you look up the word “always” in the dictionary you will find the definition is “forever; continually,” and to me that’s what love is. Whether it’s blissful or painful, it’s always.





What’s your Hogwarts house?


Alas, I am a proud Slytherin and I carry the wand of Narcissa Malfoy.


24. Hannah Maryan’s “HP”



Please describe your tattoo and its significance to the books:


I have a small “HP” stick-and-poke on the side of my middle finger on my left hand. The H.P. stands for Harry Potter, obviously, as a reference to the books and the boy. But because it’s just initials, it can still be slightly secret for the squares and nonbelievers.


When did you get it?


I must’ve been 19 or 20 years old, so around 2008 or 2009. I started by giving the stick-and-poke to myself, but it hurt so badly I had to stop and left half an “H” on my finger for a long time. My ex-boyfriend/best friend finished the tattoo one night about a year later in his bed where he lived in the living room of an apartment on Haight Street in San Francisco. It hurt less when he did it.


Why is this image special to you?


I love the Harry Potter books (duh) and they always helped me through hard times. I have learned so much from reading them over and over and over. So I wanted a little tattoo to commemorate my love for the books; however, I didn’t want anything too obvious so I chose the “HP” instead of a Deathly Hallows or dark mark or something. Most people don’t know it stands for Harry Potter and assume it stands for Hewlett Packard (like, what?) or when I’m in Spain, “hijo de puta,” which is kinda funny, but I’m not that crude. A couple years later I gave my cousin a matching stick-and-poke in a hotel room over Christmas in Granada, Spain. She has an “RW” for Ron Weasley in the same place. Certainly the meaning has changed over time; not only is it a reminder of my one true consistent friend, the HP book series, it’s a connection to my best friend who hasn’t talked to me in three years, and an expression of cousinly love.


Which house is your Hogwarts house?


Def Ravenclaw, because I’m a Latin teacher/grad student (although I wish it were Gryffindor, but I’m not that brave). 


From June 1 to 30, HuffPost is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the very first “Harry Potter” book by reminiscing about all things Hogwarts. Accio childhood memories.


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9 Other Superheroines Who Deserve Their Own Movie Adaptations

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This week, director Patty Jenkins made history. She became the first woman director to head up a summer blockbuster ― a big-budget sector of the film industry typically reserved for action movies directed by men.


That Hollywood has been notoriously unkind to women directors makes the feat more remarkable still. Jenkins ― whose biggest flick prior to “Wonder Woman” was made with less than a tenth of the budget ― is only the fourth woman director to head up a project in the $100 million plus range.


What’s more: critics say the film’s a hit.


In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Jenkins was modest about her early success. “I can’t take on the history of 50 percent of the population just because I’m a woman,” she said. And we agree. There’s no dearth of talented women directors who haven’t been given a chance on big-budget projects; hopefully, Jenkins’ efforts will open doors for them, too.


We’ve got a few in mind. Between Marvel’s “She-Hulk” and DC Comics’ brainy Natasha Irons, there are dozens of superheroine stories waiting to be adapted into summertime hits. Below, we’ve paired our favorite women directors with the winningest heroes we love.



“She-Hulk,” directed by Karyn Kusama


In recent Marvel installments of her story, “She-Hulk” has become much more than an object of desire. Mariko Tamaki — author of “This One Summer” — gives Jennifer Walters her own story, in which she’s coping with PTSD. And Karyn Kusama — director of “Girlfight” and “Jennifer’s Body” — has proven that she’s able to take on action-centered stories with dark psychological underpinnings.



“Scarlet Witch,” directed by Reed Morano


Elisabeth Olsen is currently playing the Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff, in the “Avengers” movies, beginning with “Age of Ultron.” Maximoff is (maybe) the daughter of Magneto, the twin sister of Quicksilver, and her husband is Vision, so a film centered specifically on Scarlet Witch ― whose powers include being able to alter reality in various ways ― would be a true comic book family drama. We’d like to see Reed Morano, the director of the first three episodes of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” as well as films like “Skeleton Twins,” give the adaptation a bleak, intimate edge.



“Raven,” directed by Amber Tamblyn


Raven is a half-human, half-demon superhero who was rejected by the Justice League due to her dangerous ancestry. She winds up forming her own group of rowdy do-gooder teens ― a story that seems suited to Amber Tamblyn’s penchant for dark and feeling character studies.



“Faith,” directed by Amma Asante


Faith, with her psychokinetic and telepathic powers, has earned praise as a body-positive superheroine who, according to writer Amy Diegelman, is “fat [...] and not hiding.” In her solo comic, Faith (aka Zephyr) has a boring job at a BuzzFeed-like media company, is dealing with a breakup and is living in a new city ― the perfectly relatable millennial scenario. Amma Asante, who directed 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” remake “Belle,” could bring out the best of this teen-friendly story.



“Natasha Irons,” directed by Ava DuVernay


Geeks everywhere already know that DuVernay is behind the promising new adaptation of “A Wrinkle in Time,” so she’s already established herself as a woman director who’s interested in fantastical stories. DuVernay could work her magic on any of the Marvel of DC characters, really, but a cinematic retelling of Natasha Irons’ story would be worthy of her talents. Irons — like Tony Stark and her uncle, Steel — begins her world-saving career as an engineer donning Steel’s powerful suit. 



“Poison Ivy,” directed by Dee Rees


Maybe you don’t want a “Poison Ivy” remake, but we do. And who better to make it happen than Dee Rees? She’s known for directing the HBO film “Bessie,” the docuseries “When We Rise” and an episode of “Empire,” but is tied to the “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams” Amazon project, giving her some sci-fi experience. In the comic books, Poison Ivy ― or Pamela Lillian Isley ― is a botanist-turned-eco-terrorist (and sometimes Batman love interest), which seems like a complex villain plot built for our post-Paris Accord era.  



“Thor Girl,” directed by Mimi Leder


Barring her uncreative name, Thor Girl (née Tarene) is a full-fledged superhero deserving of her own flick. After fighting supervillain Loki alongside Thor, she sought refuge on earth under the alias Tara Olson. Mimi Leder, the director of “Deep Impact” and executive producer on “The Leftovers,” would be a suitable match for Tarene.



“Buffy Summers,” directed by Andrea Arnold


“Buffy” would make for another contentious remake, but one that, under the helm of “American Honey” director Andrea Arnold, could be incredible. We’d love to see a film adaptation focus more on the mundane struggles of a high schooler living in suburban California ― which also happens to a “Hellmouth,” opening up Buffy’s home to a demonic gateway. 



“Echo,” directed by Heather Rae


Echo, aka Ronin, made her first appearance in “Daredevil” Vol. 2, Issue #9, as a Native American woman with gifted intellect and “photographic reflexes,” who also happens to be one of the first deaf comic book characters. Her biography could move in so many directions ― she’s been in love with Daredevil, friends with Wolverine and Dr. Strange, allied with the New Avengers. Heather Rae, who’s mostly directed documentaries (like the Sundance and Tribeca darling “Trudell,” which tells the story of historic Native American poet and activist John Trudell), has experience working on narrative films as a producer. We’d love to see what someone with her resume could do with a superhero flick.


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CORRECTION: A previous version of this article included an image of “Thor Goddess of Thunder” (Jane Foster), instead of “Thor Girl” (Tarene Olson). It has since been replaced.

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Mom's Viral 'Behind The Scenes' Photo Reveals The Reality Of Instagram Perfection

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After posting a “perfect” selfie, a U.K.-based mom and blogger followed up with a powerful message about body image. 


On May 16, Tova Leigh posted a photo of herself on Instagram, along with a caption about corsets and unrealistic body image standards. 



A post shared by Tova Leigh (@tova_leigh) on




After receiving tons of “likes” and compliments from friends, Leigh made the selfie her profile picture on Facebook.  


But she later felt guilt about her choice of photo and the filters and edits she used to create it. On May 28, the mom shared a follow-up post to reveal the reality behind the “perfect” selfie. 





“Today I am sharing the ‘behind the scenes’ of that image,” Leigh wrote. “How I actually looked when it was taken, without 20 attempts to get it right, without cropping out the bits I don’t like and without adding the ‘make me look pretty’ filter.”


The mom explained that over the weekend, she read an article about the way social media can make people feel depressed and insecure because they perceive the perfect-looking images to be real.  


“Well let me tell you something: THIS IS REAL,” she wrote. “In all my mum-tum, cellulitis, granny pants and absolutely zero thigh gap glory! Not the perfect sexy body by some dictated standard, but imperfectly fabulous because it is real and it is mine.”



Leigh concluded with some advice for people to keep in mind the next time they see a “perfect” photo on Instagram or Facebook and start to feel self-conscious: “Social media is full of shit. You are beautiful just the way you are. And there is nothing sexier than being real.”


The post received over 37,000 likes. Leigh has three daughters ― a 6-year-old and 4-year-old twins. She told HuffPost they inspired her to share this message. 







“They’re obviously still not on social media, and I sometimes worry about when they will be,” she explained. “As somebody who uses social media quite a bit for my work, I am well aware of how misleading it can be, and at the age of 41 I take things with a pinch of salt as I know that what I see is not always reality. “


Reading about the negative effects of social media “perfection” ― particularly on teenagers ― prompted Leigh to share the truth of her own “perfect” selfie. 


“In reality, I was standing in my underwear in my bathroom facing a window, so I had really good light,” she recalled. “I had a mirror in front of me and I must’ve tried at least 20 times before I got the perfect shot.”


But the image was “dishonest,” and Leigh said she felt like a fraud after receiving compliments on how she looked in photo. “It did not represent what that moment really looks like, so I decided to share the truth.”


Though the blogger was hesitant to share such an intimate photo, she’s glad she did. Leigh has been overwhelmed by the positive reactions and all the kind messages she’s received from women around the world thanking her for her honesty.



“We live in a world and a society that puts a lot of pressure on women, young girls teenagers etc to look a certain way,” she told HuffPost. “We tend to share the good moments and the attractive bits about our lives which I guess is understandable, but at the same time is very misleading.”


She added, “If you look at social media you will see that 99 percent of images look perfect. But how does that even make sense? Life is not perfect. We are not perfect. And that was the point I was trying to get across: We’re not perfect but that is totally OK. Being real is far more powerful than being perfect.”

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This Woman Had A Brilliant Solution To Her Ex Being In Her Old Photos

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Baylee Woodward has a ton of cool photos of herself traveling around the world. The one problem is most of them include her now ex-boyfriend.


Her solution? Oh, just Photoshop Zac Efron’s face over her ex’s. Le duh.


For the past year, Woodward has been traveling around the world working on a yacht. The 19-year-old from Georgia told BuzzFeed she’s been to 12 countries over the last 12 months, mostly in the Caribbean. So it’s no surprise that Woodward has racked up some really awesome travel photos.



A post shared by Baylee-Ann (@baylee_woodward) on




Woodward told HuffPost that her ex-boyfriend also worked on the yacht with her, but the two broke up recently. 


She said she was looking through their old pictures when a lightbulb went off in her head.


“I was just sitting there sad, looking at our pictures and was like, ‘No way can I delete these, I look cute, so let me put someone else’s face on it,’” Woodward told HuffPost. “And when you think hot young guy, you think Zac Efron, duh.” 


Duh is right.


Scroll below to see some of Woodward’s hilariously Photoshopped images of her and her new beau, Zac. 







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Hillary Clinton Basically Wanted To Grow Up To Be Nancy Drew

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Hillary Clinton has become a role model to countless young girls and women thanks to her glass-ceiling-busting career, including her run for president as a major-party nominee. Her own role model? Well, she wears sweater sets, fights crime and is completely fictional.


Clinton is already one of the most prominent fans of teen gumshoe Nancy Drew, the iconic heroine of a mystery franchise dating back to the 1930s. During a conversation with author Cheryl Strayed at BookExpo 2017 on Thursday evening, she opened up about her childhood fondness for the classic series. 


“I read a lot of books when I was growing up, but that had a big impact on me, because she was, dare I say, a little bit of a role model,” said Clinton. “She just seemed like such a go-getter and really smart and brave [....] She was taking care of the house, she was going to school, she was solving mysteries.”


To readers today, Nancy Drew might seem a bit prim and conventional; the only child of a widowed attorney, she runs the household from a young age. She always appears to be dressed stylishly, with not a strawberry-blonde hair out of place. When the series first launched, however, it filled a gap in the market that most publishers had simply ignored: Despite numerous mystery novels starring and promoted to boys, there were none geared toward girls. Media coverage at the time professed bafflement that there was even demand for a girl sleuth.


“How [Nancy Drew] crashed a Valhalla that had been rigidly restricted to the male of her species is a mystery even to her publishers,” wrote a Fortune analyst in 1934. “Nancy Drew tops even Bomba, the most popular of modern male heroes.”


With so many accomplished and ambitious women among the fans of the series, the reason seems clear: Young girls were just as interested in adventure as their male counterparts, they just needed to see that it could be an option for women.


The series evolved over time, through different editors and ghostwriters, to slowly shape the idea of Nancy we have today. The original sleuth, sketched by ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson, was risk-taking, outspoken, sometimes even sarcastic, and resistant to authority. The series later underwent a makeover that both expunged certain racially problematic notes and remade Nancy into a model of demure girlishness. It’s pretty clear which Nancy inspired Clinton, who specified that she “liked the earlier ones better than the later ones.”


Though she’s come a long way since her days of devouring “every Nancy Drew book,” she admits that one thing hasn’t changed: Her love for mystery novels. “I’m a very devoted mystery reader,” she said. Maureen Corrigan pointed out during the campaign that Clinton seems particularly devoted to reading domestic mysteries by and about women ― much like Nancy Drew. At BookExpo, she named several women authors, including Jacqueline Winspear and Louise Penny, as particular favorites. 


Clinton, who said she often turns to books for “total distraction,” hinted that escaping into these page-turners has been one post-election relaxation strategy. 


I’ve read a lot of mysteries,” she said wryly, “and it was very comforting, because it was someone else’s problem.” 


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Hillary Clinton To Next Female Presidential Candidate: Prepare to Be ‘Brutalized’

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Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is hopeful that a woman from any background can run for the United States presidency in the near future. But that candidate needs to fully understand what she’s up against.


“You have to be prepared for what it means to literally be brutalized,” the former secretary of state said Thursday at BookExpo America in New York City, the publishing industry’s annual gathering. “It is unlike any experience she has ever had before. Our system in our country is the most difficult political environment in the world of any democracy to elect a leader.”


This woman might come from a background in politics, Clinton added, or could perhaps be a writer or a business executive. 


She’s up for offering experience and advice but said she believes the future candidate needs to “find his or her own way.”



"You are carrying the burden of the double standard and you have to know that."



Clinton has remained active in the first few months of Donald Trump’s presidency, giving speeches and appearing at conferences to continue defending her ideals. But it’s been a troubling time that has felt nothing like her loss in the 2008 election, she said.


“I’m worried not just because there are partisan differences but we’re living in such an abnormal time when we look at the way this White House is behaving,” she said on Thursday, adding “some of the biggest challenges we face: the dishonesty, the fabrication … it is deeply troubling.”

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The Meaning Of 'Marocain,' The Word That Won The 2017 Spelling Bee

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On Thursday night, 12-year-old Ananya Vinay won the Scripps National Spelling Bee after correctly spelling the word “marocain.” But what exactly does that word mean? 


Marocain, derived from the French word for Moroccan, is a ribbed crepe dress fabric. Its warp threads, which give a fabric its strength, are made of silk, wool or rayon (or a combination of those). The fabric is often used to make dresses and women’s suits and is quite recognizable because of its ribbed look, according to dictionary.com.


If you need help figuring out how to pronounce marocain, this video will help:





Below are photos of dresses made from marocain:







Now you know! 


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The 20 Funniest Tweets From Women This Week

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The ladies of Twitter never fail to brighten our days with their brilliant ― but succinct ― wisdom. Each week, HuffPost Women rounds up hilarious 140-character musings. For this week’s great tweets from women, scroll through the list below. Then visit our Funniest Tweets From Women page for our past collections.




Sign up for our Funniest Tweets Of The Week newsletter here.



















































































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Mom's Raw Photos Shows What Life With 6 Kids Looks Like

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When Korbi Ashton goes out in public with her six children, she tends to get a lot of interesting comments from strangers.


“So much so that my twin sister, Jakobi, gave me a shirt for Christmas that reads, ‘Yes, they are all mine,’” she told HuffPost.


The Washington state photographer is mom to 11-year-old Beck, 9-year-old Paisley, 5-year-old Penelope, 3-year-old Remington, 2-year-old Violet and 3-month-old Jorgen. To show others what life with six kids really looks like, Ashton put together a series of photos offering a glimpse into her daily experiences. 



“I love to photograph our everyday lives and record the day-to-day things that we do,” she explained. “I look back at all the photos of them I have taken over the years like the most emotional time capsule. You always hear ‘it goes by so fast.’ And it is so very true!”


The mom said she’s taken so many cute photos of her children that she actually ran out of wall space to hang them and purchased a large TV to use as a digital picture frame. 



All six of her kids have very different personalities, Ashton told HuffPost. “Just when I think that I have it all figured out the next one throws me for a loop and I start all over again. I am learning right along with them this thing called parenting and life.”


As her children grow up, the photographer and her husband want to teach them to be happy and successful, however they define that. “I also want to instill in them a desire to live right down the road from me when they grow up,” she joked. 



Ultimately, Ashton wants people who see her photo series to know that having six kids is “a fun roller coaster ride.”


“I swear I was more overwhelmed with my first than I am with my sixth,” she said. “I don’t know if I have relaxed or I’ve just learned to embrace the chaos.”


Additionally, she hopes the images make people recall their own special day-to-day moments: “The sometime mundane small and simple things may get brushed aside, but are really so very important in the fabric of our lives.”


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Jay Z Staged A 'Candid' Photo With Kevin Hart Because He Is A Damn Pro

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Jay Z knows what looks good (hell, the man is married to Beyoncé) so it’s no surprise that he was caught directing a photographer at a basketball game on Thursday night.


The famed rapper and business mogul was at Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers and was spotted being friendly with comedian Kevin Hart. Their interaction ― obviously ― garnered the attention of the paparazzi. Um, hello, two big stars chatting it up? Yeah, that’s a photo op.


As Jay noticed the photographers snapping away, smiling ear-to-ear, he said, “Take the picture while we’re talking” to the person behind the camera. He then immediately resumed play-laughing/hand-shaking with Hart.


The video of him calling the shots is hilarious:






The moment is so incredibly cheesy while also being so dang real. Who among us has not directed a photographer? Jay Z isn’t new here, he knows his angles. And Twitter LOVES that about him.


Here’s what everyone’s been saying about the interaction: 














For what it’s worth, Jay’s efforts were solid ― the resulting photographs are fantastic: 




Moral of the story: Always listen to HOVA.


  

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Mom Comes Up With Creative Way For Families To Celebrate Rainbow Babies

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A mom in Colorado has come up with a colorfully creative way for families to celebrate the arrival of their rainbow babies. The touching project also recognizes her friend’s strength and persistence during her experience with infertility.


Colorado mom Julie Schneider has launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of creating what she calls “Rainbow Hats” for families who have welcomed a rainbow baby, or a baby who is born after a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or infant loss. Schneider met with a local hat manufacturer who will make the rainbow-colored hats on antique knitting machines. She told HuffPost her friend, whom she’s known for almost 30 years, inspired the project.



Schneider’s friend, who requested that Schneider not include her name on the Kickstarter page or the Rainbow Hats site, welcomed a rainbow baby with her husband this spring after undergoing IVF for a few years. In December, Schneider traveled to Michigan, where her friend resides, where they met at a Barnes & Noble in Ann Arbor. While there, Schneider gave her friend a rainbow-colored hat she crocheted. Schneider told HuffPost “she loved it right away.”


“It’s become one of her favorite hats,” she said.


Seeing how much her friend adored it, Schneider became inspired to share the idea with other families. She has a $15,000 goal for the campaign, which lasts until the end of the month; $15,000 will cover the first batch of hats, including the hats her backers will receive as their rewards for donating and shipping costs for sending them. Schneider has turned to a hat manufacturer because of a wrist injury that keeps her from making many hats. 



Schneider designed the hats to come in three sizes. The “baby” size is designed to fit newborns and babies up to a year old. The “little” size covers kids 1 to 6 years of age, and the “big” size is for kids and adults 7 years and older. She also designed them so that wearers can fold the brim up or down.


Schneider told HuffPost that in the future she might include other styles of hats like trucker hats or seek out different fabric manufacturers so she can offer more options. For now, she wants to focus on hats to help families symbolize their love for their rainbow babies.


For more info on Rainbow Hats, head to the official site or to Schneider’s Kickstarter page.


The HuffPost Parents newsletter, So You Want To Raise A Feminist, offers the latest stories and news in progressive parenting. 

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New Fictional Series Tackles Race Through The Lens Of A Young Harlem Girl

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Producers Riley Wilson and Lisa Cortés are tapping into the mind of a 9-year-old for their new series on racism, gentrification and black girl magic, “Little Apple.”


The web series, which fuses sci-fi and comedy, takes its name from the show’s main character, an omniscient Harlem bred girl who goes by the name Little Apple.


As the young Harlemnite, played by Milan Williams, becomes increasingly cognizant of race, gender and class-based hierarchies in society, she develops a resistance to the systems which perpetuate inequality. 


But in order for the show to go on, Wilson and the show’s crew are in need of a little financial aid. According to the series’ Kickstarter page, if the team doesn’t meet their goal of raising $15,000 for the show’s production by June 24, we won’t get to witness Little Apple come into her wokeness. 


“Little Apple will tell the dramatically witty story of a young magical black girl’s transcendence into consciousness — in a society that, for all intents and purposes, is anti-black and anti-female,” the page reads. 


And according to show’s press release, Williams real-life persona doesn’t differ much from that of Little Apple’s.


“The first time I read the papers, I was like gentrifi-what?” Williams said in a press release for “Little Apple.” I didn’t know what it meant. I was like, mom what does gentrification mean? And I said it wrong.”


“At first I didn’t know what it was and then I started looking into it and now I’m like ohhhh,” she said. “Now I can’t get it out of my mind.”



For Wilson, who writes, directs and executive produces the show alongside Cortes, Little Apple’s awareness of what’s taking place around her is commonplace for adolescents. 


“What’s great about the show is that it’s from the perspective of a little girl,” the Howard alumnus said in a press release. “And people often forget that kids have direct access to content and media just as much as adults. They know what’s going on in the country and many times the world. People just don’t engage with them.”


Cortés, who executive produced the Academy-Award winning film “Precious,” seconds Wilson’s belief about the potential of young minds. 


“The marriage of entertainment for young people coupled with discourse around social justice is especially timely,” she said in the release. 

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Author Inspires Other Moms To Embrace Their Bodies' 'Wobbles, Lumps And Bumps'

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A British author, blogger and actress has encouraged other moms to love their “perfectly imperfect” bodies in an empowering Instagram post.


Giovanna Fletcher, whose books include Billy and Me and Happy Mum, Happy Baby: My Adventures In Motherhood, shared a photo on Instagram that shows her enjoying a day at the beach with her two sons, Buzz and Buddy, whom she has with McFly band member Tom Fletcher. In the caption, she wrote that she had recently seen many posts about postpartum bodies. She then gave a touching explanation about how she feels about her body after giving birth to her sons. 




”At times it does bother me how much my body has changed, but I know I don’t ever want it to stop me having fun with the boys,” she wrote. “They aren’t going to look back and think, ‘Gosh, Mum had terrible cellulite, stretch marks and wobbled a lot,’ but they would notice if I sat out of games and didn’t make the most of my time with them.”


Fletcher emphasized how much she appreciates her body because it gave her the “two most important things” in her life, inspiring other moms to embrace their flaws. 


“So thank you to you in all your wobbles, lumps and bumps,” she wrote. “To me, you are perfectly imperfect.”


In February, Fletcher stopped by AOL Build UK for an interview and spoke openly about her postpartum body. During the chat, she said that a short time after she had given birth, a woman who asked for a photo with Fletcher’s husband turned to her and said, “Oh, look. Mommy’s still got a tummy.”


Watch Fletcher’s AOL Build interview below.







Fletcher said that a few days later, the incident came to mind again.


“A few days after that I had a shower, and I stood in my dressing room ― leaky boobs, stretch marks, wobbly belly,” she said. “And I just thought, ‘How do I feel about this ... my body has changed, it’s not like it was when I was 18, no surprise.’”


The author soon realized the strength of her body, especially after going through a miscarriage. She then offered the audience an important message on how society views people’s bodies.


“We scrutinize and we put it down all the time,” she said. “We’re always told, ‘She’s got cellulite, she’s too fat, she’s too thin.’ Who actually cares?”


The HuffPost Parents newsletter, So You Want To Raise A Feminist, offers the latest stories and news in progressive parenting. 

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It Doesn't Get Much Cuter Than This Baby's Donut Smash Photos

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We all know parents love a good baby cake smash, but the donut smash might be even cuter.


In honor of National Donut Day, photographer Sarah Gibson of Indigo Bird Photography took pictures of an adorable baby named Atlas smashing a donut dessert spread. And clearly, he loved it.



Atlas’ mom reached out to Gibson about doing a themed photo shoot for his first birthday, the photographer suggested a donut smash, and the rest was history. 


The photographer said the baby was “intrigued” when he saw the dozen colorful donuts and “just went to town once he tasted the icing!”



“He liked the chocolate frosting the best! He tried all of the flavors, but kept going back to the chocolate one. That’s a baby after my own heart!” she added.


Atlas’ big brother, Malachi, helped out by singing and dancing to get his baby to look at the camera instead of the donuts the whole time. 



Though this was Gibson’s first donut shoot, she said it definitely won’t be her last. “I love the added element of humor the donuts bring to the session. I mean, who doesn’t love donuts? And Atlas started throwing the donuts once he was full of sugar, which is something that hasn’t happened at a regular cake smash.”


Added the photographer, “Now I’m looking for a baby who wants to do a taco smash!​”




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7 Facts That Prove Wonder Woman Was Rad Even Before Her Movie

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I spent most of my “terrible twos” living in a Wonder Woman pajama set. My best toddler friends were boys at that time, and they all had superhero PJs ― Batman, Superman, Spiderman ― and thus, Wonder Woman entered my life. In that costume, I was the same as my (miniature) male peers ― just another superhero ready to take on the world. 


More than 25 years later, Wonder Woman (aka Diana Prince) is finally gracing the big screen. What would normally be a run-of-the-mill superhero blockbuster release means more, because this time a woman gets to be at the center of the action. Women are crying at the sight of Wonder Woman kicking ass and taking names, and men are losing their minds over the possibility that a few select screenings at select movie theaters might not welcome them. Welcome to 2017, y’all. 


But before Wonder Woman got her own movie, she had a pretty incredible history. The superhero was created by professor William Moulton Marston with the help of his two life partners, wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and his former student Olive Byrne. (The three lived together, slept together and raised children together.) The powerful superhero we know today came from the mind of a man ― and two women ― who saw the matriarchy as an inevitability. In a 1937 interview, Marston stated that “in 1,000 years women will definitely rule this country.” (Get at us 2937!)


Although we are far from any semblance of a matriarchy, we do get to watch Diana Prince taking over movie theaters across the country. Below are a few rad facts about her genesis that will make you even more pumped to see her on the big screen:


1. She was a cover girl for Ms. Magazine ― twice! The superhero covered the first issue of the mag in 1972, and the magazine did a redux for the cover of their 40th anniversary issue. The original cover is known as a turning point for Wonder Woman, who, despite her radical roots, got watered down for a couple of decades.





2. Her sexuality is fluid. In a 2016 interview with Comicosity, Wonder Woman comic writer Greg Rucka confirmed that the superhero was queer, though he cautioned that our society’s conceptions of gay and straight don’t exist on Themyscira, the fictional island Wonder Woman is from.


“It’s supposed to be paradise,” Rucka said of Themyscira. “You’re supposed to be able to live happily. You’re supposed to be able — in a context where one can live happily, and part of what an individual needs for that happiness is to have a partner — to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship. And the only options are women. But an Amazon doesn’t look at another Amazon and say, ‘You’re gay.’ They don’t. The concept doesn’t exist. Now, are we saying Diana has been in love and had relationships with other women ... the answer is obviously yes.”


3. She was allowed to join forces with Superman and Batman after a 1942 reader poll. According to Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman, the poll asked: “Should Wonder Woman be allowed, even though a woman, to join the Justice Society?” The results were decisive, with 1,597 kids answering yes and 203 answering no. Lepore reported that 197 of those who answered “no” were boys. And thus Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society ― as the secretary. 





4. The creators of Wonder Woman were inspired by the suffragettes and the women’s health movement of the early 1920s. As Lepore wrote in the New Yorker:



In 1911, when Marston was a Harvard freshman, he saw the British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst address a crowd in Harvard Square, after she was banned from speaking in Harvard Yard, where women were not allowed to speak. In 1912, Elizabeth Holloway was a sophomore at Mount Holyoke when students paraded for suffrage, wearing buttons that read “Votes for Women!” H. G. Peter, the artist Marston hired to draw Wonder Woman, drew pro-suffrage cartoons for magazines. Marston took Wonder Woman’s origin story straight out of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1915 feminist utopia, “Herland.” In 1916, Olive Byrne’s mother, Ethel Byrne, and her aunt, Margaret Sanger, opened the first birth-control clinic in the United States; they are the founders of Planned Parenthood. In 1917, Marston was in Washington, D.C., when suffragists held a vigil outside the White House, carrying signs that read, “Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait for Liberty?” 



5. Bondage and submission were consistent themes in early Wonder Woman comics. Look no further than Wonder Woman’s deftness with rope! This had everything to do with Marston, who, according to Broadly, believed “submission was essential to thriving relationships.” 


6. She officiated a same-sex wedding in 2015. “I … didn’t know you’re a proponent of gay marriage?” Superman says to her. “Clark, my country is all women,” she responds. “To us, it’s not ‘gay’ marriage, it’s just marriage.”


7. Wonder Woman was created with a belief in the reformation of criminals, not the destruction of them. She would take villains ― especially women villains ― to Reform Island for rehabilitation, and for years, the superhero didn’t kill anyone. 


Plus, she’s here to smash the important things, like patriarchy. 




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Let These Cartoonists Illustrate The Horror Of Trump's Climate Change Stance

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A post shared by Tom Toro (@tbtoro) on




”I think all of us have a social responsibility to resist Trump’s destructive agenda in every way we can,” artist Tom Toro told HuffPost


For Toro, his particular brand of resistance often comes in the form of cartoons, many of which have appeared in publications like The New Yorker. Shortly after it was announced that President Donald Trump would be pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement, an international effort to combat climate change, one such cartoon began making its way across social media. 


In it, two caricatures resembling Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are pictured in shoulders-deep water, marooned on an island, the former muttering: “Don’t worry ― I’m tweeting that climate change is fake.” Pence appears, hands joined in prayer, as a complicit witness.


“Humor is the heartbeat of a healthy democracy,” Toro added in our previous interview. “And, well, as we’re soon going to show our so-called president, the joke’s on him.”




Toro is far from the only artist to created scathing Trump takedowns in the form of political cartoons. Edel Rodriguez, known for his no-holds-barred covers for Der Spiegel, has been satirizing everything from Trumpcare to the U.S. president’s “America First” attitude.


This week, his DS cover features a Mar-a-Lago-ready Donald embracing his backswing as a flaming golf ball drawn as planet Earth throttles into the cartoon’s foreground. “You’re fired,” the image’s caption reads.


“My work encourages people that are a little afraid,” Rodriguez told HuffPost earlier this year. “When they see what I do, and all the stuff that comes at me, they might say, ‘Wow, that guy has some guts. Maybe I should get some too.’”


Emily Flake, another New Yorker cartoonist whose work has subtly and not-so-subtly remarked upon Trump’s presidency, has thought a lot about cartoonists’ handling of Trump’s policies and personas.


“I tried to be circumspect about when I mentioned DT by name or drew him in an attempt to keep the audience from being exhausted and the work from being too one-note,” she told HuffPost in January. “And I think that when people’s brains have just that extra nanosecond to put the idea together, it can help a joke land harder. That said, Trump has a look that just begs to be drawn ― for better or worse, he’s a gift to cartoonists, visually speaking.”



A post shared by Emily Flake (@eflakeagogo) on




Take a look at a few more cartoons dedicated specifically to the horrors and absurdities of Trump’s stance on climate change below.









A post shared by Jack Loftus (@jackloftus) on








A post shared by Emily Flake (@eflakeagogo) on




Welcome to Battleground, where art and activism meet.


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