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What A Black Ballerina's Path To Success Can Teach You About Workplace Diversity

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In this series, The Huffington Post profiles some of the best ballet dancers in the world, working in some of the rarest and most unusual work environments imaginable, to try to understand how they deal with the same workplace issues that confront the rest of us mere mortals.


Most of us don’t get literal standing ovations from hundreds of people when we do good work. And most of us don’t have to visit the physical therapist at the beginning and end of every work day. But no matter what sector we’re in, the big questions are the same:


What does it mean to have your body under scrutiny on the job? How does it feel to be asked to represent your entire race in a company meeting? How do you find the right people to mentor and guide you? Read previous installments, about being a great partner, switching career tracks and navigating a workplace romance.




To look at her, you’d swear that Stephanie Rae Williams is in love. She’s dancing with a man, and from the way that she’s glancing at him as she flits around, and the way he gazes up at her as he sweeps her in his arms, you just know that they’re deeply in love. From the way their bodies almost seem to be talking to each other, you suspect they’re desperately in lust, too.


But they’re not. They’re just rehearsing.


It’s Easter Saturday, and while the rest of the city is resting up or preparing their Sunday feasts, Williams and her colleague Da’von Doane, along with half a dozen of their fellow Dance Theatre of Harlem artists, are holed up in a studio at the iconic company’s headquarters on 152nd Street. As exhausted dancers lean against the studio’s brick walls, sweating and drooping from the previous rehearsal, Williams and Doane seem to disappear into their own little world. They’re rehearsing a piece called “When Love,” a pas de deux choreographed by Helen Pickett, which they’ll perform at their City Center engagement in April. The music is by Phillip Glass, with multiple spoken-word pieces laid over the violin and choral singing, and between the angelic voices and the pair’s alternately delicate and sweeping movements, that little world appears transcendently beautiful.


The Dance Theatre of Harlem was founded in 1969 and has since become one of the nation’s finest companies, and one of its most important forces in the slow, crucial, and ongoing fight to carve out a place for African-Americans in the landscape of American ballet. Along with outfits like Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, it has long been a crucible for African-American dancers and choreographers, and a testament to how art and artists can blossom, even when they’re starved for resources and denied deserved mainstream prestige. In addition to a performing company, DTH runs a school and a community education and outreach program, a multi-pronged approach to the mission of bringing ballet to people and people to ballet.




That American ballet is overwhelmingly white will not be news to anyone who has observed the rise of Misty Copeland, who became American Ballet Theater’s first black woman principal ballerina just last year. Dance Theatre of Harlem, however, has spent decades demonstrating that there’s no real excuse for that overwhelming whiteness: DTH has had black principal ballerinas since the beginning.


Not that it’s always easy to find them; the pipeline from ballet schools to ballet companies doesn’t contain that many black ballet dancers, for myriad reasons. Many black aspiring ballerinas run up against preconceptions -- held by teachers, company directors, competition judges, choreographers, and fellow dancers -- about what kind of dance they’re best suited to. They’re told that they have an abundance of explosive strength but a dearth of grace and delicacy, that they don’t have arched enough feet, that they lack the long elegant lines that the art form arbitrarily demands, and find themselves slowly but surely funneled out of ballet and into other disciplines (to say nothing of the way ballet companies that emphasize racial diversity struggle to survive; in 2004, DTH ran into financial difficulties so dire that the company stopped performing for almost a decade). Williams, like Copeland and other black ballet dancers, had teachers tell her that she might be a better fit for contemporary dance rather than classical ballet. She was told that she was too muscular to dance the girlish, gamine roles that are the staple of grand story ballets like "Giselle" and "Romeo and Juliet."




Williams, who is biracial, started ballet when she was 8, and says she was the only black student in class at her Houston ballet school. “There were two of us in the studio, maybe three but the other girls were older. There were no black men or black boys either, so it was just the three of us, and in my class I was the only one,” she said. She was one of the only ones in her elementary school class, too, so ballet class felt familiar, even if it didn’t feel great. Because she’s biracial, “I was always a little bit not-white or not-black, I’m in the middle, and I didn’t really fit in anywhere,” Williams said. “So I understood that I was the only black girl in the class, but I never felt like, ‘Oh, I want to be with more black people,’ I just thought it was normal.”


But being the odd one out started feeling abnormal, and like something that could really hamper her chances of being a successful ballerina, as she grew older and started training more seriously. “The older I got, the more I realized that I really like to dance, and my teachers would always tell me, ‘You should look at a more modern company,’ the typical, ‘You have a more muscular body type, so maybe you should look at [contemporary] companies like Hubbard Street [Dance Chicago] or Alvin Ailey [American Dance Theater],’” she explained. She persisted on the classical path, though, and it was when she got her first job, as an apprentice at the Texas Ballet Theater, that she came to see just how narrow that path was going to be for her.


She was the only black dancer in the company -- in fact, she was the only non-white dancer, period, in a 30-person company.  "I really felt it. You don’t feel like you can relate to people and it was hard because I was young, it was my first job, so of course I was really shy.” Teachers and choreographers would critique her dancing in ways that drove home that sense of difference. “I got corrections like, ‘You stick out and I don’t know what it is, but you need to try to fit in more,’ which is a terrible correction to give someone,” she said. “I just really think it broke me down a bit.”


Still, she was cast as Clara in "The Nutcracker," a starring role in the production that, for most companies, is the most popular event on the performance calendar. It was a big deal, especially in Dallas, she said, “in a city that’s so white.” But, she said, “I think it was too progressive”; when the new season started, she wasn’t cast in anything, “and in February the ballet mistress came up to me and said, '[Artistic Director] Ben Stevenson doesn’t like you anymore.'"


Her contract wasn’t renewed, and, having missed out on audition season, she had to scramble to find a new job. She concedes that there are multiple explanations for her negative experience in Dallas. “Maybe it was a little bit of my dancing, maybe it was also because I wasn’t a good fit, but a lot of that had to do with my skin color,” she said, sounding matter-of-fact but understandably hurt almost a decade later. “And that’s when I really started to realize that, oh, it‘s going to be a bit different for me than for other girls I grew up with.”




After Texas Ballet Theater let Williams go, her mother encouraged her to try her luck in New York. Actually, she told her it was her only option. “She put me on a plane, like, ‘Bye! There’s no where else for you to go, if you want to keep dancing!’” She spent time training at Alvin Ailey, where she looked more like her classmates, but still felt like an outsider. “That was the first time I ever danced with more black people than white people, and I still kind of stuck out, but I wasn’t very used to being around black people,” she said, laughing. “So I think I held myself like I was really uncomfortable, because I was.”


But once she relaxed, she said, Williams made lasting friendships with her fellow dancers, and was able to launch a career dancing for small, intentionally diverse companies. She went to London and danced with Ballet Black for several years, and then joined DTH, where she’s been for six seasons. “I really thank my mom for pushing me on that plane,” she said, grinning.


And she’s thriving at DTH. Despite an injury that sidelined for a year -- she blew out her knee and is still working her way back to full strength -- she’s found a place where she fits in. That sense of belonging has given her the tools to become a stand-out dancer, away from the homogeneity and cookie-cutter pressure of mainstream, that is, overwhelmingly white, classical ballet. “Being here has shown me that there are so many other dancers who aren’t even black who are having a hard time because they’re tall or they’re short, and not getting into professional companies,” she said. “Because in ballet you have to have the look: you have to have the body, the beauty, the legs, and I think that DTH is not only diverse in color but in body types -- we’re all individual, and we’re all beautiful.”




Back in the studio, artistic director and former long-time company member Virginia Johnson is critiquing Williams and Doane’s run-through of “When Love,” talking through her corrections and giving them a chance to rest after dancing for an intense five-minute stretch. Williams’ feet -- clad in pointe shoes she painted herself, with CoverGirl foundation, because most pointe shoes are made in a “flesh” tone that doesn’t actually match her flesh -- start to cramp, and she shakes them out as Johnson gives the pair a critique disguised as a compliment: “The two of you are really good at being people in this ... I want you to go back to being dancers in a few places.”


They’re almost too good at appearing in love, too complete in losing themselves in the dance. Johnson wants a little more technical accuracy, but once she’s had Williams repeat a particular pirouette about six times, until it’s just the way she wants it, she goes back to the emotional heart of the piece. At one moment, Williams had put her hand over her chest, twisted it into a fist, and stretched it out toward Doane. “Is that your heart that you’re giving him?” Johnson asks. “Spend more time with your hand on your chest, that’s your moment for you. Then you give it to him. It lets us know that it’s your real heart, not just some decoration.”


The sustainability and vitality of ballet depends on diversity of the kind that DTH has mastered. That means “more Mistys,” Williams says, singing Copeland’s praises. “I’m so happy for her. She’s the sweetest person, she’s so amazing.” And Williams is happy about the shift in audience demographics that Copeland’s rise has inspired. The usual audience at Lincoln Center and at the Metropolitan Opera House, where American Ballet Theater performs, well, “it’s a lot of older white people, and it’s, like, this one demographic.” But not when Copeland is performing. “Misty brings out a different crowd,” Williams says. “It’s really great. I love it. I got to see her do Juliet last summer, and the audience just got me so pumped up -- it’s the most black people I’ve ever seen at the Met, ever. I’ve been going to the Met for a really long time, and there’s never black people at the Met, and all of a sudden, they come for Misty, and it’s so amazing.”



Congratulations @mistyonpointe A well deserved promotion! Photo: Judy Tyrus #dancetheatreofharlem #wearedth #artist #talented

A photo posted by Dance Theatre of Harlem (@dancetheatreofharlem) on




Still, Williams wants to ensure that Copeland’s appointment doesn’t lull people in or outside of the ballet world into a false sense of security, or create the impression that the forces that held Copeland back have been eliminated by her success. “I don’t want them to be like, ‘OK, it’s done,’” she says. And, she doesn’t want ballet to fall prey to a scarcity mentality, the sense that there’s only one spot at the pinnacle of American ballet for which all black ballerinas are competing. “There’s not only room for one at the top. There’s so much room.”


And while she loves DTH and is grateful for all it’s given her, in the future, she said, “Hopefully it’s not black dance and white dance. It’s just dance.”


Dance Theatre Of Harlem will perform at New York City Center April 6-9 and in Norfolk, Virginia, and Princeton, New Jersey, in May.

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Troye Sivan On His 'Fun' Sexuality And The One Thing He Keeps Private

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Pop star Troye Sivan is quickly establishing himself as a queer icon for the millennial set, and it's a role that he does not take lightly. 


The 20-year-old singer-songwriter, who came out publicly as gay in a 2013 YouTube video that has since been viewed over six million times, got refreshingly candid for the May issue of Out magazine. In the interview, Sivan opens up even further about his sexuality. Still, there's one thing he wants to keep private: his relationship status. 


"I feel like I share everything about myself, like everything," he said. "That's the one thing – I should keep something to myself." Calling relationships "so weird," he added, "You care so much for that person and you become best friends, and then it seems so abrasive to me that people break up. That concept. The whole idea of it. As someone who is just starting to venture into romantic endeavors, that’s been a very strange thing I never thought about before. People get hurt, and that’s something I’m learning."



When it comes to describing his own sexuality, he quipped, "Fun. Is that weird? Fun is how I feel. Fun is kissing boys and kissing girls sometimes. I can do whatever I want, and no one will bat an eyelid."


Sivan, who was raised Jewish, also spoke about his song "Heaven," which he wrote about being gay in a religious upbringing. It was a process he now calls "very therapeutic." 


"It was me thinking about how hard I try to be a good person and then feeling like, before I even opened my eyes as a little baby – because I think I was born gay – I was a sinner," he said. "All of those are very standard, but very confusing and hurtful conversations that you have to have with yourself as an LGBTQ person. Those kinds of songs mean a lot to me." 


Read the full Out magazine interview with Troye Sivan here


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Sweet Photo Series Reveals What's In A Preschooler's Pockets

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San Francisco photographer Melissa Kaseman knows that imaginative art can come in tiny packages. That much is evident in her latest photo series, "Preschool Pocket Treasures," which depicts the small objects she finds stuffed in her son's pockets each day when he comes home from preschool.


"The magic of childhood is so fleeting, and these objects I kept finding in Calder's pockets represent a chapter of boyhood, his imagination, and the magic of finding a 'treasure,'" Kaseman told The Huffington Post, adding, "I like the idea of the photographs being a taxonomy report of a child’s imagination, specifically Calder's. I hope he carries the wonderment of discovery throughout his life."



In a similar vein to mom Lisa Bauso's "Bella's Pocket" photo series, "Preschool Pocket Treasures" features little toys, string and craft supplies. "I feel like the treasures show that art, color, and form play a major role in how Calder views and learns about the world," Kaseman said.


The photographer said the seeds for the idea were planted when her mother passed away. Kaseman discovered random items in the her late mother's jacket pockets and archived them in Ziploc bags to later photograph.


"Preschool Pocket Treasures" applies the same archival idea to capture a child's growth and evolution. "All the phases of childhood are so fleeting," the photographer told HuffPost.


Kaseman hopes people who look at the photos see "the magic of discovery in a child's imagination." She added, "A simple object can hold so much weight in one’s mind." 


Keep scrolling and visit Kaseman's website to see the "treasures" found in her son Calder's pockets.


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London Just Became A Disney Wonderland, Thanks To These Creative Cutouts

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First star to the right, and straight on till morning!


...They may not be the most accurate directions to the city of London, but they work just fine for Instagram user PaperBoyo.


The creative traveler designed a series of Disney character cutouts which he holds against the London skyline -- and other famous U.K. sites -- to transform them into the Disney land of our dreams:



But if you'd rather travel to the real Disneyland, start planning your trip with a few pro tips. 


Happy magical travels!

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Vintage Photos Show Sumo Wrestlers' Surprising Elegance

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Sumo's ties to Japan go much deeper than merely being the country's de facto national sport. Legend has it that the Japanese people established themselves on the island nation after a wrestling fight between the gods Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata. 


Practice of the sport dates back to at least the 8th century and was once regarded as a performance to entertain the gods of the Shinto religion, an indigenous Japanese faith.


Sumo remains one of the most popular spectator sports in Japan, where six 15-day tournaments are held across the country every year.



Sumo is a grueling sport. To win a fight, a wrestler, or rikishi, must push, slap or body-throw until his opponent out of the ring. Alternatively, part of his opponent's body -- that aren't the soles of his feet -- must touch the ground or leave the ring.


Many rikishi pack on the pounds so that they can't be pushed around easily. Wrestlers tend to weigh 220 to 440 pounds, according to Japan's national tourism association. Professional rikishi typically live in sumo stables, or beya, where they must follow strict training, eating and sleeping schedules. A typical schedule involves hours of training in the early morning, followed by a high-calorie brunch and a nap to ensure slow digestion. The large body, slicked back topknot and loin cloth of a sumo wrestler is instantly recognizable.


The New York Public Library recently digitized some rare photographs of sumo wrestlers believed to be taken in the late 19th century. Take a look and marvel at some more of those photographs below.


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17 Feminist Songs That Were Ahead Of Their Time

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Contemporary pop music is full of empowering anthems about women's independence. But long before the riot grrrl movement and power pop jams braced the music scene, it was rather novel -- and even controversial -- to sing about gender equality.


As Women's History Month comes to a close, we look at 17 awesome songs with feminist messages that were ahead of their time. Many of these songs have lyrics that are still so relevant today.


"Just Because I'm a Woman" by Dolly Parton





"Yes I’ve made my mistakes, but listen and understand, my mistakes are no worse than yours just because I’m a woman."


In 1968, Dolly Parton addressed the sexist double standards women face with the title track off her second solo album. “Just Because I’m A Woman” was an anti-slut shaming anthem before the phrase "slut-shaming" even took hold in mainstream media.


"Four Women" by Nina Simone





"My skin is yellow my hair is long. Between two worlds I do belong. But my father was rich and white. He forced my mother late one night. And what do they call me? My name is Saffronia."


Nina Simone's "Four Women" details black female archetypes and tackles questions of identity for women of color in a post-emancipation America. A powerful black feminist song, "Four Women" nicely accompanies other empowering Nina Simone tunes like "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" and "Ain't Got No, I Got Life."


"You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore





"And don't tell me what to do. Don't tell me what to say. And please, when I go out with you, don't put me on display."


Long considered a "feminist anthem," this Lesley Gore song recently reemerged in the pop culture sphere with a cover version by Australian singer Grace, featuring G-Eazy. Although, the 1963 hit "You Don't Own Me" has a strong message about female agency, it's almost hard to believe the song is by the same artist who released "That's The Way Boys Are."


"Bounce Your Boobies" by Rusty Warren





"Loosen the bra that binds you! Take it off if you feel like it! Come on, bounce your boobies. Here we go. Doesn't that feel good?"


"You know girls, men aren't the only people in the world today that have something to give, but it sure looks like it sometimes."


Comedian Rusty Warren encouraged listeners to embrace the freedom offered by U.S. democracy and look at women's liberation in a new way with "Bounce Your Boobies." The hilarious, irreverent song implores the ladies to "give your boobies some freedom."


"Cell Bound Blues" by Gertrude "Ma" Rainey





"I walked in my room the other night. My man walked in and began to fight. I took my gun in my right hand. 'Hold him folks, I don't wanna kill my man.' When I did that he hit my 'cross my head. First shot I fired my man fell dead."


Considered "The Mother of Blues," Gertrude "Ma" Rainey generally sang tunes from the perspective of women. This 1924 blues song is the lament of a woman facing jail time after she shot and killed her abusive husband in self-defense. 


"The Pill" by Loretta Lynn





"I’m turning down your brooder house cause now I’ve got the pill. All these years I’ve stayed at home while you had all your fun and every year that’s gone by, another baby’s come. There’s gonna be some changes made right here on nursery hill. You set this chicken your last time cause now I’ve got the pill."


The meaning of Loretta Lynn's controversial 1975 song, "The Pill," is quite straightforward. It's a celebration from the perspective of a woman who just gained control over her reproductive health through access to birth control.


"Harper Valley P.T.A." by Jeannie C. Riley





"Mrs. Johnson, you're wearing your dresses way too high. It's reported you've been drinkin' and runnin' round with men and goin' wild. And we don't believe you oughta be a bringin' up your little girl this way." 


This narrative song tells the story of a widow and mom who stands up for herself after being slut shamed for the way she dresses and raises her teen daughter. In a PTA meeting, she calls out the parents who shamed her by highlighting their various examples of misconduct and utter hypocrisy.


"Sisters, O Sisters" by Yoko Ono 





"Freedom, O freedom, thats what we fight for. And yes, my dear sisters, we must learn to fight."


In this somewhat upbeat feminist song, Yoko Ono calls upon her fellow women in power to rise up and aid their oppressed sisters. "Sisters, O Sisters," appeared on her 1972 album with John Lennon, Some Time in New York City.


"You Let Me Down" by Billie Holiday





"You told me that I was like an angel. Told me I was fit to wear a crown. So that you could get a thrill. You put me on a pedestal. And then you let me down, let me down."


While the song is ostensibly about a woman spurned by her lover, deeper analyses by scholars like Angela Davis suggest that it's in fact about the systemic oppression in racism and sexism. 


"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" by Kitty Wells





"It's a shame that all the blame is on us women. It's not true that only you men feel the same."


"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" highlights the impactful role of men's misconduct on the women they disrespect. Put simply, her premise is that women who "go wrong' usually do so after being taken advantage of by men.


"Sam Jones Blues" by Bessie Smith 





"I'm free and livin' all alone. Don't need your clothes, don't need your rent. Don't need your ones and twos. Though I ain't rich, I know my stitch. I earned my strutting shoes. Say, hand me the key that unlocks my front door. Because that bell don't read Sam Jones no more, no. You ain't talkin' to Mrs. Jones. You speakin' to Miss Wilson now."


The lyrics of this blues song by singer Bessie Smith focus on a wife who asserts her independence by freeing herself from a bad marriage.


"Different Drum" by Stone Poneys (with Linda Ronstadt)





"Yes, and I ain't saying you ain't pretty. All I'm saying is I'm not ready for any person, place or thing to try and pull the reins in on me."


Another ode to female independence, "Different Drum" is about turning inward and focusing on personal growth as a woman.


"March of the Women" by Ethel Smyth and Cicely Hamilton





"Comrades, ye who have dared, first in the battle to strive and sorrow! Scorned, spurned, nought have ye cared, raising your eyes to a wider morrow. Ways that are weary, days that are dreary. Toil and pain by faith ye have borne. Hail, hail, victors ye stand, Wearing the wreath that the brave have worn!"


Back in 1910, Ethel Smyth composed "The March of the Women," with lyrics by Cicely Hamilton. The song became an anthem for women's suffrage, with activists singing it at rallies, marches and even in prison.


"I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy





"I am woman, hear me roar. In numbers too big to ignore. And I know too much to go back an' pretend 'cause I've heard it all before. And I've been down there on the floor. No one's ever gonna keep me down again."


Over forty years ago, the United Nations declared 1975 "International Women's Year," kicking off the annual celebration of International Women's Day on March 8. The official anthem for the year was Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman." That same year, Reddy released her top ten hit "Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady." 


"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" by Aretha Franklin





"A woman's only human. You should understand. She's not just a plaything. She's flesh and blood just like her man."


Franklin's 1967 single, "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," encourages men to respect women and treat them as equals instead of using them.


"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" by Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand 





"If you've had enough, don't put up with his stuff, don't you do it. If you've had your fill, get the check pay the bill, you can do it. Tell him to just get out. Nothing left to talk about. Pack his raincoat show him out. Just look him in the eye and simply shout: Enough is enough."


This empowering duet by Donna Summer and Barbra Stresiand is all about giving women the courage to leave bad relationships and understand that they don't owe their male partners anything.


"Don't Put Her Down (You Helped Put Her There)" by Hazel Dickens





"You abuse her, accuse her, turn her round and use her. Then forsake her any time it suits you. There's more to her than powder and paint, than her peroxided bleached-out hair. And if she acts that way it's 'cause you've had your day. Don't put her down, you helped put her there."


This song by bluegrass singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens is another one that calls for men to understand the way their mistreatment of women and complicity in oppression creates certain female archetypes.

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Woman Accused Of Murdering Her Abusive Ex Goes Free After Almost 3 Years Behind Bars

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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Twelve jurors found Cherelle Baldwin not guilty of murder on Thursday in the death of her ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Brown. 


Baldwin collapsed to the floor in tears as the verdict was announced. 


"My baby," she cried. "My baby will have his mommy back."


Police say Baldwin, 24, ran into Brown with her car in May 2013, pinning him against a cement wall outside her house and killing him. She was charged with murder and has been held behind bars on $1 million bail for almost three years. She maintained she was acting in self-defense.


The jury, comprising seven women and five men, deliberated for less than two full days in Baldwin's second trial; the first resulted in a hung jury.


The murder trial highlighted the plight of domestic violence victims who commit violent acts to protect themselves from their abusers. During her testimony, Baldwin said her ex was abusive and controlling, and stalked her in the days before the fatal incident.


She told the jury that on May 18, 2013, Brown broke into her house and strangled her with his belt in front of her young baby. She fled her house without shoes, glasses or her child, she said, and he followed her to her car, where he continued his assault on her.


At one point, Baldwin said, he was on her hood. Then there was a crash. 


"Everything happened so quick,” she said. "All I could think about was the baby."


Ten days before his death, Brown was convicted of a misdemeanor for a prior incident in which he threw Baldwin's clothes outside and hurled her phone to the ground as she tried to call 911. The conviction led to a court order barring him from committing violence, threats or harassment against her. 


Threatening text messages that Brown sent to Baldwin on the morning of his death -- including one that read "doa on sight" -- were also introduced as evidence. 


Almost 40 domestic violence organizations across the country called for state prosecutors to drop the charges against Baldwin, and a petition launched by the nonprofit Ultraviolet gathered nearly 32,000 signatures. During closing arguments, the courtroom was packed with Connecticut-based domestic violence advocates who came to show their solidarity with Baldwin. 


Beth Richie, professor of criminology, law and justice and African-American studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said that historically, violence against black women has not been taken as seriously as violence toward white middle-class women. When black women act in self-defense, she said, they are more likely to be seen as culpable for their actions, instead of as victims.


"It’s a version of 'black lives just don’t matter as much,'" Richie said. "And black women’s lives in particular don’t matter as much, especially when it causes the death of another person." 


Brown's father, Jeffrey Hines, said that he respected the decision of the jury. He pointed to a class ring he wears on one of his fingers, which has a symbol of the scales of justice. 


"They made a decision," he said. "That's it."


Miles Gerety, Baldwin's defense attorney, said he's never had a client who he cared about as much as Baldwin. "When a battered woman steps out of the role of being a victim and defends herself, many in our society stop thinking she was battered," he said. "I'm very happy."


"You had her for three years," said Baldwin's mother, Cindy Long, in tears. "My daughter was innocent all along."  


______


Melissa Jeltsen, a senior reporter who covers domestic violence, will be reporting from Cherelle Baldwin’s trial in March. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow her on Twitter.


______


Related stories: 


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Amandla Stenberg: Being A Marginalized Person Is A Revolutionary Act

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Amandla Stenberg is about as woke as they come. 


In a new feature in Interview Magazine, the 17-year-old actress made some pretty poignant points about politics, representation and identity. On the latter, Stenberg stresses the importance of intersectionality and highlights how issues about identity can't always be isolated. 


"I oftentimes receive the question, 'What do you think is the most important social issue to focus on?' Or, 'What’s the most important component of identity? Is it gay rights or race or feminism?' And I’m like, “Well, they’re all intertwined," Stenberg told the magazine. "It’s all one conversation at the end of the day. You can’t just pick one.”



Stenberg, who is set to star in an upcoming film inspired by Black Lives Matter, is one of the leading influencers raising awareness around all of these issues.


In the interview, she goes beyond intersectionality to also address the lives of marginalized members of society and how their existence can be seen as revolutionary acts because they don't necessarily conform to the status quo.



When you are yourself and someone who’s marginalized, it becomes a revolutionary act."
Amandla Stenberg


"People experience all kinds of prejudice because of all different parts of themselves. And that doesn’t make one part more important than the other," she said. "We live in a society that does not openly accept every kind of human being. And so the result is when you are yourself and someone who’s marginalized, it becomes a revolutionary act."


As a vocal black, bisexual woman, Stenberg has consistently spoken out about her own identity and sexuality. She admits that by being a part of these marginalized communities her own being is often times treated as some sort of revolutionary or political act, too. 


"Unfortunately or not unfortunately, take it as you will, when you are a marginalized person or a woman of color and/or someone who's a part of the LGBTQ community, your acts become politicized, just by being yourself," she said. "Because we're not completely accepting of all different kinds of human beings... by being myself, I'm doing something political." 


Stenberg said she has received both criticism and support for speaking out about these social issues but the latter is the only thing she is focused on and inspired by. 


"For the people who feel inspired by what I'm doing, there's something so concrete and powerful in what's happening when they feel empowered," Stenberg said. "There's actually some kind of growth or self-acceptance, some kind of self-love that's actually being triggered, hopefully. And that's real."

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This Photo Series Is Empowering Black Women To Embrace Their Bodies

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A new photo series is reclaiming the beauty of the black female body.


"Body Noire, A Celebration Of Black Female Bodies" is the brainchild of Nigerian-American multimedia journalist Abi Ishola. In October 2015, Ishola founded the website BeyondClassicallyBeautiful.com, months after launching a photo series in direct response to the New York Times piece which described actress Viola Davis as not "classically beautiful."


On Beyond Classically Beautiful, Ishola and her team create visual content to challenge society's beauty standards while shining a spotlight on the undeniable beauty of black women.


The site's latest project, "Body Noire," features striking black-and-white portraits that focus on the diverse physiques of everyday black women. Ishola says the inspiration for the series came during Serena Williams' domination of female tennis in 2015. 


"As she embarked on yet another grand slam somehow her physique became the topic on social media and in mainstream publications," Ishola told The Huffington Post.


"At a time when the world should have been celebrating her for her talent, she was being body shamed for her natural body type. We wanted to do something to honor black women, once again, since that is our main objective."


The result, a powerful photo series featuring women of all sizes and shapes, unapologetically glorifying the power, strength and beauty of their bodies. The stunning photos were taken by photographer Kunle Ayodeji (who also happens to be Ishola's husband), accompanied by candid written confessionals by several women sharing their personal "body stories" and how they've come to love their bodies. 



"I think it's very important to shine the light on black women when it comes to body acceptance because black women have been somewhat left out of the mainstream conversation," Ishola says.  


"Black women are constantly held under a microscope when it comes to the way we look, so it only makes sense to refocus the idea of body positivity on black women in particular." 



In an Editor's Note accompanying the series, Ishola honestly opens up about her own "love-and-hate" relationship with her body, her struggles with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and the way in which having her daughter helped her reconcile many of her body issues. Her own personal journey of self-acceptance ultimately was one of several catalysts that led to this project, which aims to encourage black women to reclaim and redefine the narratives around their own bodies. 


Her hope is for the women who see the "Body Noire" project to "feel represented, loved and celebrated."


"There's no greater celebration than the ones we do for each other.  That is the Beyond Classically Beautiful mission, which I feel has become my life's purpose."


See the entire "Body Noire, A Celebration Of Black Female Bodies" series here

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Dear Artists: Detroit's Abandoned Homes Are More Than Your Blank Canvas

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The Monday demolition of a blighted Detroit home made famous in an art installation thousands of miles away raises questions about the relationship between artists and the communities that inspire their work.


Ryan Mendoza, an American-born artist living in Europe, used the house on Stoepel Street as the raw material for “The White House” at the Art Rotterdam festival last month. He first visited Detroit last year, removed the facade of the house, which was purchased and donated by a local friend, and shipped it overseas. In the Netherlands city, he reconstructed the shell and painted it white. He played Motown hits and projected family snapshots and video taken during his trip to evoke the house's history.


The installation will reside permanently at the Verbeke Foundation art site in Belgium.


In an essay last month, Mendoza emphasized his personal relationship with the house and its previous owners. He plans to auction off the facades of several other houses and donate the proceeds to the communities where they once stood.


“If you look superficially this is exploitation. If you take the time and look more profoundly, this is connection,” Mendoza wrote in The Guardian. “I wouldn’t let the government bulldoze all the dilapidated houses with all their memories without one being preserved as testimony."


The Detroit Free Press first reported last week that the exposed remains of the house -- full of debris and falling plaster -- had been left untouched for six months despite complaints from neighbors, who say it is a dangerous eyesore.






"I feel disrespected to the max, like we are nothing," next-door neighbor Beverly Woung told the Free Press.


Following the report, the city demolished the structure, and on Wednesday, Mendoza signed an agreement to pay demolition costs. Mendoza, who never owned the property, blamed another local partner for failing to uphold their demolition agreement and stressed his desire to get the structure removed.






Artists’ fascination with ruins can be traced back centuries, and they've been drawn to the ones dotting Detroit’s landscape for years. But there’s been increasing pushback from Detroiters who urge transplants and visitors to respect the communities they’ve come to take part in -- or take from.


Even before the Stoepel house’s lingering blight made headlines, some saw Mendoza’s project as a prime example of ruin porn, appropriation, exploitation and neocolonialism.


Detroit arts writer Taylor Renee described the house’s whitewashing as obscuring the narrative of the black family that was forced to leave it.


Renee wrote in Arts.Black, Mendoza could instead have preserved the house’s memories by "amplifying the voices of the Thomas family and many others who were forced of out their homes as a result of the mortgage crisis.”


“Under the guise of ‘saving’ history or the city, as Mendoza suggests, images and materials are mined from it,” Brian Doucet and Drew Philp wrote in a separate Guardian article. “Like the resource extraction in other places, this mining leaves residents with little benefit.”



 Critics of the pervasive images of abandoned buildings in Detroit use the term “ruin porn” pejoratively, suggesting they celebrate and decontextualize decay, diminish residents and encourage distorted perceptions of the city as an urban wasteland.


Others in the art world say the label ignores the history of ruin imagery and the value of documentary photography.


“To condemn images of blasted lives and places that carry a whiff of ‘exploitation or detachment’ would be to do away with a sizeable chunk of pictorial and written history,” Richard Woodward argued in ARTNews in 2013.


But Mendoza's goal to create “a work of art for the community to be proud of," as he said in The Guardian, invites scrutiny of a piece created for a faraway audience that had a negative, if accidental, local impact.


Others have deconstructed abandoned buildings in the name of art, and "The White House" echoes the 2001 installation “24620: The Fugitive House,” a Detroit home that artist and architect Kyong Park removed and reassembled for exhibitions across Europe.


In 2012’s “Displacement (13208 Klinger Street),” Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert displayed personal effects found in an empty home at a festival across the state. But the decision to work in their own neighborhood reveals the symbiosis that can exist between artists and communities: their organization Power House Productions has rehabbed several houses, turning them into installations as well as active hubs dedicated to music, theater, skateboarding and more.


For 30 years, Tyree Guyton has continued to transform his blighted block into a colorful found-art park, the Heidelberg Project, which also offers arts education programs.



As Hyperallergic writer Sarah Rose Sharp pointed out, in Detroit, “there is a thriving and exciting practice of reclaiming these spaces."


There are artists working with similar aims in other cities, like Rick Lowe’s “social sculpture” in a Houston neighborhood. Lowe renovated 22 abandoned homes to serve as housing and an arts venue for Project Row House. Candy Chang’s murals in New Orleans and elsewhere address local issues and invite collaboration.


Those projects have empathetically engaged with cities’ abandonment, in ways that speak to both locals and outsiders. Hopefully, two conditions will become standard for artists seeking inspiration among the ruins: firstly, consider the residents who deal with them in their daily lives, and secondly, leave their communities unscathed -- or better yet, better off.

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In New Documentaries, Nora Ephron And Joan Rivers Rightfully Contain Multitudes

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You can be highbrow. You can be lowbrow. But can you ever just be brow? Welcome to Middlebrow, a weekly examination of pop culture. Sign up to receive it in your inbox weekly.



Anyone who's trudged through a writing course has inevitably heard a thing or two about "finding your voice." People can spend their life's work struggling to determine how they want to portray themselves to the world. And then there are those who make it look easy, as is the case in two new documentaries about women who seemed never to need a classroom to shape their voices. Both Joan Rivers and Nora Ephron are late embodiments of the dualities that exist in all of us, as well as examples of legends we admire for their ever-unfolding layers.


"Joan Rivers: Exit Laughing," which premieres on PBS this Friday, and "Everything Is Copy," the Ephron documentary that HBO aired last week, call on a host of the comedy writers' associates to reminisce about their careers and offstage personas. What emerges are portraits of two icons whose far-reaching legacies span a public identity that departs from their private lives. They may have found stages or books or screens to serve as platforms, but the documentaries prove that, when Rivers and Ephron stepped out of the spotlight and embraced other aspects of themselves, it only made them more authentic.



In "Exit Laughing," Kathy Griffin -- a friend and comedic heir who once traveled with Rivers to visit Prince Charles -- proclaims that Rivers had the "biggest balls in the business." In "Everything Is Copy," Meryl Streep -- the star of three Ephron-penned movies: "Silkwood," "Heartburn" and "Julie & Julia" -- declares that Ephron "understood love." 


Neither statement is inaccurate, and both encapsulate popular culture's general reception of Rivers and Ephron, respectively. But as each movie confirms, there is far more to a public figure than her provocative stand-up acts or her delightful screenplays about romance. Those are communal entities. They are stories. Rivers scripted her routines, methodically cataloging every joke she wrote, as seen in the elaborate filing system showcased in 2010's superb "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work." Even in Ephron's many personal essays, which cherry-pick bits and pieces of herself to expose, she becomes her own character, analyzing both realistic and idealistic predicaments. But those endeavors wane when the gig is over or the movie fades to black. 


It turns out Rivers wasn't always the biting firebrand she channeled onstage. As in "A Piece of Work," "Exit Laughing" features a parade of friends extolling Rivers' sympathetic, almost motherly nature -- a direct contrast to the boundary-pushing, politically incorrect jokes upon which Rivers built her name from the first time she charmed Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." Lily Tomlin calls her "wholesome." Dick Cavett says, "The Joan you met backstage would not reel off a string of insults, but be very gracious, very nice, very sweet -- to some people, almost disappointing." Sarah Silverman describes her as "pure love offstage." 



And despite Streep's proclamations about Ephron, many of the "When Harry Met Sally" scribe's associates -- especially her sister Delia and son Jacob, who directed "Everything Is Copy" -- pinpoint a brashness that conflicts with the mostly breezy comedies she concocted, or with the real concerns she couched in humor-driven essays about body image, aging and "tasteless" egg-white omelettes.


In surveying her career, Ephron may seem like a witty romantic. And of course, to some degree, she was. But, like anyone with multiple layers, Ephron was also a relentless truth-teller. In "Copy," "Sleepless in Seattle" star Rosie O'Donnell feels compelled to promise she wasn't intimidated by Ephron. In recalling Ephron's quickness to fire people who flubbed up, "Julie & Julia" producer Don Lee says Ephron would deliver a double-take that was "like you had a laser from a gun on your forehead and you were about to get whacked." In other words, part of Ephron's nature entailed the opposite of the sunny dispositions she imbued in, say, Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail" or Steve Martin in "Mixed Nuts." And after seeing "Everything Is Copy," you respect her all the more because the movie underscores the resonance of both cornerstones of Ephron's personality.


They say to never meet your icons, right? But what about seeing documentaries that upend their public personas? Are you disappointed? You shouldn't be. "Exit Laughing" and "Everything Is Copy" demonstrate that hagiography isn't effective, because all of us -- even those without fame -- see ourselves as characters. By crafting our identities, we create stories about ourselves, and we project those stories onto most of the people who surround us. But when the spotlight fades, our inhibitions do too. That doesn't make these ladies inauthentic -- it makes them human. 


Ephron, who died quietly at 71, bookended her romantic zest with a certain brashness, whereas Rivers, who died unexpectedly at 81, did the opposite. Their legacies contain multitudes, just like they should.


"Everything Is Copy" is now available on HBO Go. "Joan Rivers: Exit Laughing" premieres April 1 on New York's PBS affiliate before expanding to affiliates elsewhere. 


Follow Matthew Jacobs on Twitter: @tarantallegra


 

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Meet The Next Generation Of Inspiring Women

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Never underestimate a girl on a mission.


To end Women's History Month on a high note, The Huffington Post is highlighting eight young women making big differences in their communities. These young girls are impacting all different type of areas including environmental study, fashion and medicine. 


From Marley Dias, a sixth grader who started her own book drive to highlight storylines featuring black girls, to Anaya Lee Willabus, the youngest person in the U.S. to publish a chapter book -- these change-makers are the next generation of badass women. So keep close watch.


Here's to these girls making herstory. 


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Photo Of Seal Cheesin' For The Camera Wins Photography Contest

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Darling it's better down where it's wetter, take it from theeeeeese really amazing shots. 


UnderwaterPhotography.com recently announced the winners of its annual photo contest, which covers 17 different categories. The 2015-2016 winning shots include a breathtaking photo of a lemon shark in the Bahamas as well as an underwater ballet-themed photo. 


The kookiest winning photo, entitled "Hello Cheeky," features a seal cheesin' for the camera while gripping a diver's flipper.



The photo, which was shot by Nick Blake at Lundy Island, United Kingdom, took home the gold medal in the temperate waters category, and it's almost guaranteed to make you smile. 


According to the website, there were 6,339 entries for the contest with both professional and amateur photographers. Winners are chosen by a panel of judges, according to the website. The honor of World Champion, or contestant with the most consistent and complete portfolio from the year, was given to Terry Steeley, from the U.K. 


Lose your land legs and check out the gorgeous Gold Medal-winning photos below. 


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James Murphy's 'Flu Game'

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Early on during LCD Soundsystem's Monday night show at Webster Hall in New York City, lead singer James Murphy told the audience he was battling the flu, and that he might not be able to hit all the usual notes. 


It was the second of the band's two shows at Webster Hall this week -- their first performances since LCD Soundsystem's big blowout retirement/goodbye party nearly five years ago at Madison Square Garden, an extravagant and nostalgia-heavy affair that was documented in the film "Shut Up and Play the Hits."


To enter the venue, concertgoers had walked through the front door under a marquee that read, "Test In Progress Please Stand By." Presumably, many people in the room had been unsure whether they'd ever get a chance to see this band again, and thus seemed to be willing to follow Murphy wherever the night ended up going. The crowd had to have considered themselves lucky, even if they knew the night was just a warmup for a coming summer tour, as they had all made it inside the building one of two ways: by winning a ticket lottery or having connections.


After Murphy's flu announcement, the crowd's cheers grew louder, although he wouldn't end up needing the extra support. His stellar performance throughout the night solidified the weekend shows as an iconic moment in, well, something. 



"Idk how to feel about this reunion!" a close friend of mine texted me while I was at the show.



"Idk how to feel about this reunion!" a close friend of mine texted me while I was at the show. "I spent so much time mourning them."


It can be easy to fault LCD Soundsystem for coming out of retirement so soon after they said such a perfect goodbye in 2011. Fans had paid hundreds of dollars to see a definitive ending at Madison Square Garden. Murphy, who became something of a cult icon during the band's rise, rode off into the sunset, out of Manhattan and back to Williamsburg to open a wine bar. Fans could retain the music of the band that seemingly defined their experience of New York for a decade in their own memories, however the devotees saw most fitting. 


When LCD Soundsystem returned to the stage at Webster Hall on Sunday and Monday, that perfect ending got thrown out; that 2011 moment could no longer be called Murphy's final bow onstage.


As someone who still often wears the lightning logo shirt created by Murphy's personal record label, DFA, I certainly had initial reservations that something perfect was being ruined when I first heard the announcement. Murphy certainly had some sort of egg on his face, I thought.


But as Murphy brought up his flu, I couldn't help but be reminded of an oddly parallel moment in pop culture -- a moment when someone else from Brooklyn feigned retirement before coming back and playing through the flu to establish himself as the greatest ever.


Someone whose initials where a mirror of James Murphy's: Michael Jordan.


It may have been a bit strange when Jordan came out of retirement the first time, after a failed attempt at playing professional baseball in the MLB. But coming back undoubtedly earned Jordan more respect, and more important, helped him nab his most iconic moment. In 1997, nearly four years after his first retirement, Jordan battled through the flu in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to lead the Chicago Bulls to a much-needed win on the way to yet another NBA Championship, the fifth of the six he would eventually claim.


Jordan's second stint with the Bulls wasn't a rehash, or his first go-around. It was a separate era, during which he gained new fans who may have not even been aware of what he'd accomplished before.


Murphy appears to want something of the same: to create something new, not to shut up and play the same old hits. 


The retirement documentary and so-called final show will remain at least a bit embarrassing in retrospect, given the huge deal Murphy made about saying goodbye. By playing his reunion shows on Easter weekend, Murphy positioned himself as a savior figure of sorts -- posters advertising the event read, "LCD Soundsystem will rise from the dead this Easter Sunday." 


Whether the band's intention was to save concert attendees from a city without Jesus James or an underwhelming New York music scene is yet to be seen.


When my friend texted asking how I felt about the reunion, I responded, "I've decided to think of it like when Jordan came back from retirement after baseball and then won like three more championships."


My friend was only somewhat having that idea.


"Haha alright well hopefully that'll be what happens," she said. "Rather than [LCD Soundsystem] being Dennis Rodman," desperately clawing to stay relevant in pop culture to diminishing returns.


Right after Murphy's announcement that he had the flu, LCD Soundsystem launched into their 2010 hit, "I Can Change." The first chorus pleads for an object of desire to "never change," but as the narrator matures to realize a lover can't be a statue, the song proceeds to the chorus and becomes self-reflexive.


Murphy sings, "But I can change, I can change, I can change, I can change / I can change, I can change, I can change / If it helps you fall in love."


As someone who grew up with Jordan, I want to believe that James Murphy can change one more time. That he has another act. That he can, once again, be someone great who's never gone.

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Photos Of Abandoned Buildings In Europe Show The Beauty In Ruins

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German photographer Christian Richter, 36, has spent the past seven years traveling across Europe, photographing the insides of decaying buildings. He is driven by a love for the patterns and textures he discovers, he told HuffPost Greece.


“They remind me that everything is impermanent,” he said.


He started off by photographing old buildings that had been left deserted after the German Reunification in 1989. “I used to explore these buildings without a camera,” Richter recalled. “Years later, a friend gave me his old digicam, and that’s when I fell in love with photographing old buildings.”


His fascination with derelict buildings pushed him to photograph factories, staircases, chapels, theaters and more, located in cities across Europe. "I travel around Europe looking for abandoned buildings," he said. 


Richter says he does not make the locations of these buildings public to protect them from vandalism.



You can see more photos on Christian Richter's Instagram account


This post orginially appeared on HuffPost Greece, and has been translated into English.

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Contemporary Drawings Of Ancient Goddesses Are Literal Black Girl Magic

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Warning: This post contains nudity and may not be appropriate for work environments. 



In every woman there's a goddess. Artist Josh Sessoms knows this to be true. For the past two years, the Philadelphia-based artist has been creating colored pencil depictions of black women as Egyptian goddesses. The series is called "Ritual Spirit."


Acknowledging the lack of representation of black women in both art and portraiture, inside and outside the Western European tradition, Sessoms does his part to fill in the gaps with stunning portraits of modern day babes evoking the presence and powers of iconic ancient queens. "The true face of antiquity has been obscured through selectively editing the records of the past," Sessoms explained to The Huffington Post in an email. "I aspire to reintroduce an African diasporic image of elegance, resilience, strength and intellectual ingenuity into the contemporary lexicon."


In the title image above, "Ritual Spirit," Sessoms' subject sits nude, save for a gold necklace, atop a statue of Bes, an Ancient Egyptian deity worshipped as a protector of households and childbirth. The Bes figure also hovers above her. Sobek, a complex and fluid deity often depicted as a Nile crocodile, rests at her feet, alluding to the strength of the sitter's feminine waters. 



In "Nebethet," above, Sessoms depicts his sitter as the titular goddess of  earthly consciousness, nature and the underworld. As the artist says in a statement: "She condenses matter which unites the soul/spirit with the physical realm of time and space."


Sessoms' drawings collapse past and present imagery through the vessel of the naked human form, a timeless symbol for openness and honesty, according to the artist. Such figures are interwoven with elements of ancient medicine, astronomy, astrology and science, to illuminate the non-Western origins of today's widespread practices. 


The enchanting images capture the duality of now and then, human and divine, strength and softness. They also, according to Sessoms, reference the male and female energies inside us all. "Men and women are different aspects of the same cosmic energy. So I address this topic as a man to complement my eternal companion through time: the woman. Together we magnetize and create balance on the macro-cosmic scale."


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Smithsonian Says Museum Will Include Mention of Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Accusations

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After days of questioning, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens in Washington in September, said on Thursday that it would add a reference to accusations of sexual assault made against Bill Cosby in an exhibition that recognizes pioneering work in comedy and television.

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Planned Parenthood Protesters Take The Spotlight In Eerie Street Photos

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When Robert Lee Bailey’s girlfriend needed a colonoscopy, the couple went to a Planned Parenthood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to get the procedure done. It wasn’t his girlfriend’s first time at a Planned Parenthood; she’d had a colonoscopy done there before, and was mistakenly confronted by protesters who thought she was there for an abortion.


“She was so stressed out about going there [again],” Bailey told The Huffington Post. “Not only because she thought she might have cancer, but because she was worried that the protesters would be there.” 


So Bailey, a street photographer, tagged along, and snapped photos of the protesters, many of whom he had conversations with unrelated to his own political beliefs.


“At first, most of them were OK with it,” Bailey said. “They just asked that I didn't blind them with the flash. They even offered to take me to lunch. And they would ask me if I was pro-choice, but I never wanted to talk about that. I always danced around the issue, and I never tried to argue with them or anything like that.”


But, once Bailey’s opinions came to light, the protesters asked him -- with increasing hostility -- to stop photographing them. He says some of them claimed he needed a model release form, which isn’t the case. Street photographers have the legal right to capture individuals in public places, even if the ethics of doing so are hazy.


Portraying subjects negatively without their consent isn’t illegal, but for some street photographers it raises questions. Expressing a popular approach, street photographer Ron Haviv said in an interview with Feature Shoot, “In many cases, if I point a camera toward someone, and there is no negative reaction, I feel fine in taking the image. If they say no, verbally or otherwise, I respect their choice.”


Bailey feels similarly, and stressed that many of the protesters acted kindly toward him, in spite of having differing beliefs. But, he said, “If you don't want to be photographed, if you don't want to attract my attention as a photographer, don't stand out here on a busy street holding a controversial sign.”


Many of his photos spotlight said controversial signs, including one that reads, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you -- God.” Each is shot using a bright flash that lights the subjects from below, creating an ethereal glow or, sometimes, a horror movie effect.


Several subjects are captured with their palms blocking the camera, demonstrating their desire not to be photographed, and creating an air of intrusion. 


“I hope the mood is austere and a little frightening,” Bailey said. “I think one of the central themes is invasion of privacy. I was photographing people who did not want to be photographed, even though they were protesting in a public space. But I trespassed on their personal space and took the photos anyhow. I think it sends a message that they're doing the same thing. They're invading people's right to medical privacy, as well.”


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The Lavish Legacy Of Oscar De La Renta Lives On

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“The 21st century is the century of the woman,” said Oscar de la Renta in 2010.


You can see this declaration manifested throughout his work, and throughout his current retrospective at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. His designs, known for their boldness, femininity and opulence, require a woman to be comfortable taking center stage, whether it’s in a full floral ballgown, vibrant kaftan or an embellished tunic.


It’s no surprise then that powerful women from the realms of both politics and pop culture have continuously been loyal clients of the designer throughout his career, from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to pop star Taylor Swift. At the end of the day, women -- and how they felt in his clothes -- were always what drove his vision.



“I believe that my sole purpose as a designer is to create something that I think a woman would want to wear,” said de la Renta in 1972.


Although there are more than 120 ensembles produced over five decades on display, every piece seems to make one unifying assertion: “Look at me.” His work embraces a singular expression of womanhood, reveling in its aspects of adornment, attention and drama. If all the world’s a stage, de la Renta’s clothes are what you’d want to be wearing for your moment in the spotlight.  


While the retrospective highlights his global influences, from East to West, it also conveys his overarching American attitude toward change. The Dominican Republic-born designer refined his craft in Paris but left for this reason: “I’d come to New York because I believed the future of fashion was in ready-to-wear.”



“Over the course of his career, he mixed an incredible sensibility of ready-to-wear and haute couture, creating demi couture, an amazing synthesis of both,” Richard Benefield, the de Young’s Acting Director and Exhibition Organizer, explained to The Huffington Post. “Oscar could do it all -- whatever was the most fashionable at the moment, he’d do it with his distinctive flair and eye for aesthetics.”


Like a story out of a fashion fairy tale, on his very first night in Manhattan, de la Renta met cosmetics mogul Elizabeth Arden, who offered him a job the following morning designing haute couture gowns for her design house. Two years later, he started his own collection bearing his name.


His legendary status doesn’t end there -- in fact, it was just building. In 1973, he represented the United States as one of five designers at the notorious “Battle of Versailles” fashion show, a competition between French and American designers. De la Renta and the other Americans were a sensation, challenging old-world European haute couture with their ready-to-wear designs.



With a career-long retrospective, it’s easy to see that the 1980s were the designer’s spiritual and aesthetic home. His bold clothes during that time reflected American might and confidence. “In the eighties, it was back into rich, opulent clothes, which were my thing,” he's said.


After the 1980s, the designer was always forward-thinking though, especially when it came to looking to diverse cultures for inspiration, including Chinese embroideries, Indian textiles, Uzbek and Kazakh ikat-patterned cloths, Japanese woodblock prints,and traditional Russian fabrics and ornamentation.


“Today, people -- clothes -- are international. Frontiers are non-existent,” de la Renta says.


His sentiments, like his clothes, feel eternally modern yet timeless. “Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective” presents the life and legacy of a man who loved life and encourages you to celebrate it, too. With the show’s lush exuberance, it’s an invitation that's hard to resist.


“Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective” is on view until May 30, 2016 at the de Young in San Francisco, Calif.














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Photographer Captures The Secret Feminist Utopia Of Dog Sledding

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The first time Katie Orlinsky set off for Alaska, the forecast predicted temperatures of negative 30 degrees. She had packed her camera, lenses and the warmest clothing she could find. But when she finally stepped off the plane, she found the airline had lost her baggage. Surrounded by subzero temperatures -- and an assignment weighing overhead to document the Yukon Quest, the dog-sled race that wound 1,000 miles through wild Alaskan and Canadian terrain -- Orlinsky was in a bit of a tight spot. And a cold one, too. But, apparently, there's a truth to the old adage about hands and hearts.


"They all lent me their clothing," she said of the airline employees, "and then the next day the bag arrived out where I needed to be. People are really kind out there. Nobody wants to watch anybody freeze," Orlinsky told The Huffington Post.


The 29-year-old photographer and native New Yorker has been flying out to Alaska since 2014 to document competitive mushers -- people who steer dog sleds -- and their animals. She's debuted several collections of images capturing the dogs, their human friends, and the bond between them that makes all the difference out on the trail of the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod -- another, and perhaps the better known, race across 1,000 miles of mountains, forests, tundra and frozen rivers. 


And -- surprising to some, obvious to others -- she's found a lot of women on the trails.



Orlinsky admittedly hadn't heard of the sport before she accepted her first far-North assignment, but said she was pleasantly surprised to meet so many female participants -- at least a third of competitors in the major races are usually women, according to the photographer. Since shooting her first race, she's gone back every year to document sledding culture.


"Women in Alaska are just badass. They’re just tough," Orlinsky said. "They’re kind and they’re confident."


Mary Shields and Lolly Medley became the first women to participate in the Iditarod when they signed up in 1974. In 1985, Libby Riddles made history as the first woman to win the race -- even after a blizzard hit the trail. The following year, Susan Butcher finished first, and would go on to win three more times. Interestingly, a Los Angeles Times piece on the race published the year Butler scored her first win suggested the sport wasn’t always so egalitarian, describing the prevailing attitude of mostly male mushers as “women can enter, but please, don't get in the way." Women kept entering, of course, and winning various accolades. Aliy Zirkle has competed for over 15 years, becoming the Yukon Quest's first female champion in 2000. She finished third in this year’s Iditarod.


"Women in [blank]" has become a rallying cry across such a range of professions: Women in film! Women in tech! Women in business! When it comes to dog sledding, a space that doesn't particularly need to celebrate its female participants because it doesn't treat them differently to begin with, the cry is oddly refreshing. Orlinsky photographs man, woman and beast alike, but chooses to focus on women at times because the gender equality is so striking.


"It’s normal out there," she explained, adding that some Alaskans didn't understand why she found their female mushers so impressive. Indeed, all of the skills required of humans in the race -- survival skills, planning and navigating -- depend less on their physicality.


"The dogs are the athletes," Orlinsky said simply. 



In a short film titled "Women in the Wild," premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival and on the ActuallySheCan site April 22 and featuring Orlinsky, director Erin Sanger documents the documentarian, an experience she called "surreal." And not without its logistical difficulties.


"We were just trying not to mess up her shots," Sanger told HuffPost.


The film, part of the Allergan-sponsored female empowerment campaign partnered with Tribeca Digital Studios, follows Orlinsky from New York to Healy, Alaska -- a town of 1,000 people four-plus hours north of Anchorage -- where the photographer records daily life at Hey Moose! Kennel, run by Kristin Knight Pace and her husband Andy. Andy raced in this year's Yukon Quest, held each February, while Kristin took on the Iditarod, held in early March. Together, they train their dogs on 10 acres of woodland next to Denali National Park.


Mushers spend years training their dogs, creating between them a bond that can overcome enough rough windswept Arctic terrain to win some races. Although the winners' purse isn't a primary motivator for racing -- clearly there are warmer and less perilous ways to earn money -- Iditarod competitors split nearly $800,000 this year, with winner Dallas Seavey receiving $75,000 and a new Dodge truck. The top 10 Yukon Quest finishers split $115,000 between them; first-place, Hugh Neff, took home $35,000. 


The winningest teams are often the ones with the strongest relationship between human and canine. (Indeed, mushers are so close with their dogs that a note at the bottom of an Iditarod page on racing terminology reads, "Don’t be surprised if you hear a musher have an in-depth conversation with his lead dog.") Orlinsky visited a number of kennels to observe daily life outside of the races, to help her make sense of what happens on the trail. 


"She'll capture these really intimate moments," Sanger said of her subject. "That comes out of her ability to connect with other people." On her own ability to make subjects feel comfortable in front of her camera, Orlinsky called herself a "goofball," noting that Sanger's cameras allowed her to finally see the experience from her subjects' perspective. ("Poor things!" she joked.)



With temperatures during both races dipping far below zero, simply doing their jobs presented unusual challenges for both Orlinksy and Sanger. Their experience taught them to MacGyver solutions, like holding extra batteries close to the body. They found chemical hand-warmers an effective weapon against the cold -- Orlinsky noted that her camera wouldn't function below negative 50, Sanger said her team strapped the warmers to their camera batteries "and hoped for the best."


On observing Orlinksy in such dramatic conditions, Sanger called her "battle-hardened," a term perhaps more fitting than intended. Orlinsky began her career as a war photographer, capturing scenes out of conflict zones in Mexico, Mali and Nepal. While she told HuffPost that she finds herself drawn to observing human nature in extreme conditions, she hesitated to remark on parallels between those war-torn places, where extremity is "thrust upon" her subjects, and the freezing tundra, where people choose to race for a number of reasons.


Of course, what compels a person to travel 1,000 miles with sparse comforts may be hard to fathom, and those reasons are often as diverse as the participants themselves. But whether they're from a "third-generation Alaskan mushing family" or just happened to adopt a dog "and then two, and then the rest is history," Orlinsky says, all mushers are united by their love for their animals.


"They almost have the choice to compete made for them by their dogs, who are made for the sport, and love it," Orlinsky wrote in an email. "Many mushers race for a very personal reason, to celebrate life in a way." 


For her part, Kristin Knight Pace traces her urge to race through the wilderness back to memories of her early childhood, when her father died. "That created a kind of morbid fearlessness in me," Pace wrote in an email. "A thousand-mile race is everything a lifetime can throw at you -- heartbreak, defeat, exhaustion, injury, failure; but it's also renewal, disbelief, beauty beyond imagining ... condensed into 11 days," she explained.


"It comes at the end of years of back-breaking effort and thousands of miles of training and hundreds of sleepless nights and walking the thin line of poverty," she added. "'Dog-poor' is what they call it around here. But I'll be damned if it doesn't make you the richest person alive in every other way." 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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