In the end, the people who live with the fear and the pain are the ones who never forget, even as they are shot to death by Hamas fighters, or bombarded by the Israeli Defence Forces. Those of us, from far away, who think suffering in any form, visited upon any body, is ever justifiable or acceptable as mere political cost, are the ones who need to be reminded.… Read More Unfolding
Sarah Menkedick writes that “[m]othering, radically defined, is the glad gifting of one’s talents, ideas, intellect, and creativity to the universe without recompense.” We refuse to allow obstetric violence to diminish that gift, the gladness with which it is given and the better world it will birth.… Read More Roses are Red
men who hate women are not clever. They are nothing special. They cannot find their own way in the world and, instead, use their destructive energy against people who are the exact opposite. It’s time we examined the weaknesses in our communities that allow them to get away with that, time and again.… Read More The Truth of True Crime
What little hope we have of reimagining a world in which girls and women can safely exist lies in obliterating this one. … Read More Burning it to the Ground
In our art, in our lives, being white means never having to say you’re sorry.
We will unearth the apology from the debris and mess of your history and your context and all of the societal factors that brought you to this moment.… Read More Redemption Songs
At the end of the day, an isolating experience like IVF needs to be witnessed. Even when it goes well. You need people who see you to see that experience. It can be a hard ask when the outcome of the experience is a loved and cherished child. How do you talk about the regret and trauma without somehow tainting your motherhood experience by association? I don’t have an answer, but I am almost certain that not talking about it isn’t it. So it’s important to hear these stories. To witness. … Read More Reading the Score
A lot of my life is spent on tomorrows. For one, I am a mother. I am engaged in the daily awesome task of raising children whom I know (I hope?) will help remake this world in their own breathtaking image. For another, I am a development worker. I don’t really know how to define… Read More Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
PMDD is agony. It is made even more agonising by the lack of real scientific curiosity about it. All of the strategies I have found to cope have been developed by women who got tired of waiting for someone to save them, and who realised that maybe noone ever will. So they delved into the unknown depths of their bodies and their psyches and stitched together wisdom from allopathy, homeopathy and everything in-between. It’s not a science but it is enough. The only catch is that fellow PMDD warriors have to be willing to stay in our bodies. Especially when it is the least comfortable place in which to live. We have to stay, quiet and restive, listening to the responses to all the efforts we put into feeling some relief.
A strange blessing slipped in with the curse of medical misogyny. For now, it will have to do.… Read More An Ode to this Body
I’ll be honest: since I became a mom myself, I have found that Mother’s Day is not my fave. It stands as an annual reminder of how little has changed for mothers, and how they are still expected to hold up half the sky without support, taking comfort only in flowers and cards and burnt toast. Don’t get me wrong – I love being a mom. My children are the loves of my various lives. But I am acutely aware of all of the ways in which motherhood comes eas(ier) to me because of my privilege. And, in spite of that, it is still enormously difficult.… Read More The Choice
Pain and heartbreak in friendship feels absolutely awful. It is so much worse when we don’t have spaces to scream, cry and vent. Even more so when we can’t admit just how much it hurts and changes our hearts. Thank goodness for art that recognises and tries to capture that, before the world’s end.… Read More F.R.I.E.N.D.S
Rumbi Writes 
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