Reaching African Children Through Fables and Animation

When the Lion King came to Broadway in 1997, I was happy for Africa. The Lion King is a 1994 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Ok, I agree it is not a realistic picture of Africa but I will take it as opposed to the Tarzan and Jane one. Finally, we got...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/reaching-african-children-through-fables-and-animation/

Luana's Story and the Continued Assualt on the Black Population of Brazil

“But she had a criminal record”“It was God’s will, she became a little angel”“A good thief is a dead thief”
When a black person dies in Brazil, these three sentences are often used as the best response to transform the continued assault on the black...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/luanas-story-and-the-continued-assualt-on-the-black-population-of-brazil/

Italy's Referendum Results Have Much Wider Implications Than Renzi's Future

Renzi has left Palazzo Chigi. That’s the first tangible effect of the massive wave of popular votes against his constitutional reforms. We’ll be talking a great deal about his decisions in the near future, including the role the ex-Premier will or will not play inside or outside...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/italys-referendum-results-have-much-wider-implications-than-renzis-future/

Is The Value Of The Pink Pound Falling?

New Islington Marina – image credit: Jane Williams

Living on a canal barge I’m aware that ‘pound’ has two meanings, not only currency but also a stretch of canal between two locks. I’m a Trans woman. My home isn’t on dry land, it floats.  Its location,...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/is-the-value-of-the-pink-pound-falling/

5 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Paying Off Your Debt

The holidays have come and gone and the excitement of the New Year has waned. Reality hits as credit card statements arrive, forcing us to face our holiday overspending. Many Americans set lofty financial resolutions for 2014, but how many have already fallen short just two months later?

The...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/5-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-paying-off-your-debt/

Miley Cyrus And Dolly Parton Team Up With Pentatonix For Stunning 'Jolene' Performance

As soon as the group started, we felt goosebumps. The country singer and the former Disney star took on the first verse while Pentatonix provided a haunting vocal backtrack made up of beautiful harmonies and some beatboxing. From then on, the performance just got better. 


Check out the...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/miley-cyrus-and-dolly-parton-team-up-with-pentatonix-for-stunning-jolene-performance/

Voices Of Forgiveness: The Wonderful Day My Student Forgave Me

I used to teach at a private high school in New England, and in one of my classes, I had a student named Liza.
On the first day of class, when I called her name, I pronounced it Lisa, and she politely corrected me. It was Liza, she said. The next day it happened again. “Lisa?” I...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/voices-of-forgiveness-the-wonderful-day-my-student-forgave-me/

Finding A New Calling After Being Laid Off At 50

Turning 50 is challenging enough.
But losing a job at 50 in the youth-obsessed world of advertising, well, that was a crisis.
For me, it wasn’t just a job. It was the culmination of a 25-year career.
I started out writing copy for noodle packages and worked my way up to creating...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/finding-a-new-calling-after-being-laid-off-at-50/

Entrepreneurial Spirit: The Business Of Supporting Your Spouse

Venturing out and starting a business has got to be one of the most terrifying experiences ever. Not only are you taking a risk in hopes that people will be receptive to your product and eventually become customers, but you’re also turning your dreams into a reality which ultimately...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/entrepreneurial-spirit-the-business-of-supporting-your-spouse/

Toddlewood Creator, Tricia Messeroux, Turns Tots Into Hollywood Royalty (PHOTOS)

HuffPost BlackVoices’ “Second Act” series explores the impact of the nation’s financial turmoil on the lives and career choices of African-American entrepreneurs. We’ve asked them to share how they’ve made the leap from a dead-end job or unemployment to...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/toddlewood-creator-tricia-messeroux-turns-tots-into-hollywood-royalty-photos/

This Group Is Making It Easier For Black People To Travel

Travel has usually been seen as a luxury that black people just don’t ― or can’t ― have but one collective, Nomadness Travel Tribe, is working to change that and make travel more accessible. 


“The concept of Nomadness is really that there are no ethnic, economic barriersto being able to...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/this-group-is-making-it-easier-for-black-people-to-travel/

Dear Berlin, You Can't Die Now

Berlin, You Are Love
Berlin,You are love.Love and life.Love and trembling.The heartbeat of the nation.You are a place of fascination.
A place of distressBerlin, you lost so much blood that night,When a truck crashed into innocent souls,Waking deathThe devil laughingAnd terror sparked to...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/dear-berlin-you-cant-die-now/

The One Thing You're Probably Doing Wrong With Your Tax Refund

Whether you’ve already filed or you’re still avoiding the process like the plague, take solace in the fact that approximately three out of four taxpayers receive a refund. However, most of us are making a huge mistake with that money they’re get back from the IRS.

The above...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/the-one-thing-youre-probably-doing-wrong-with-your-tax-refund/

Sundance Head Shocked As He Wins Season 11 Of 'The Voice'

A country singer does it again! 


Sundance Head, the 37-year-old crooner from Texas, was named the winner of Season 11 of “The Voice” Tuesday night, giving coach Blake Shelton his fifth win. Shelton hasn’t come out on top since Season 7 with Craig Wayne Boyd. 



NBC via Getty...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/sundance-head-shocked-as-he-wins-season-11-of-the-voice/

Voices Of Forgiveness: How I Finally Forgave My Parents

A child born in the 50s, I seemed caught between two worlds … the old world post-WWII and the new world that was coming into being, the swinging 60s. My parents were forever stuck with what was.
My mother, herself the product of an unstable home, a father who had died and left her on...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/voices-of-forgiveness-how-i-finally-forgave-my-parents/

Queer Icon Kate Bornstein Reflects On Queer And Trans Identity In 2015

This is the second feature in a series that aims to elevate some of the transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals who have played a significant role in the ongoing fight for trans and queer liberation. Head here to read the first feature with CeCe McDonald.


Kate Bornstein is a...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/queer-icon-kate-bornstein-reflects-on-queer-and-trans-identity-in-2015/

What I Have Never Understood About US Failure in Gun Control

I am one of those people who have been fortunate to come to the U.S. and study. I came here in 2011 and graduated from Cornell in 2013. And let me admit, when I came here, like many others, I fell in love with this magical place.
It was an amazing experience to see a highly diverse society...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/what-i-have-never-understood-about-us-failure-in-gun-control/

Surviving The Death Of My Parents

On December 7, 2011, my parents took a scenic helicopter tour for their 25th wedding anniversary. Less than 15 minutes after takeoff, the helicopter crashed into a remote ravine, east of Las Vegas, NV.
There are never any words that can heal a broken heart. Once you lose someone, your days...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/surviving-the-death-of-my-parents/

How Hip-Hop Can Heal: A Message on the Rick Ross, Young Jeezy BET Altercation

“I’ve become a man of peace. My redemption keeps me strong.” Stanley “Tookie” Williams founder of Crips
Freeway Rick Ross
This weekend the news that came out of the BET award show about the altercation between the rapper using my name “Rick Ross” and...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/how-hip-hop-can-heal-a-message-on-the-rick-ross-young-jeezy-bet-altercation/

League of Young Voters Education Fund Teams Up With Hip-Hop Producer Hi-Tek to Spark Social Change

The first time I traveled to Cincinnati, I thought it was the most effed up city I had ever seen.
In 2005, my friend, Gavin Leonard, invited me and my colleagues at the League to conduct a civic engagement training at a fledgling youth arts center that he co-founded in Cincinnati’s...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/league-of-young-voters-education-fund-teams-up-with-hip-hop-producer-hi-tek-to-spark-social-change/

Sean Paul Says Drake And Justin Bieber Are Exploiting Dancehall

Reggae artist Sean Paul isn’t happy that today’s artist are using dancehall without giving credit to the genre’s forefathers.


The “Gimme the Light” singer, who helped propel dancehall into mainstream territory in the early 2000’s, took shots at “Controlla” artist Drake and “Sorry” crooner...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/sean-paul-says-drake-and-justin-bieber-are-exploiting-dancehall/

This Is Why I Won't Stop Going To Christmas Markets In Berlin

Dear Facebook: It was Monday night, just after 10:00 p.m and you wanted to know if I was okay. What a stupid question to ask.
A truck had just slammed into the Christmas market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. The initial reports said there were several people injured and one...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/this-is-why-i-wont-stop-going-to-christmas-markets-in-berlin/

What Is It Like To Find Out Your Child Is Transgender?

As a parent, what is it like to find out your child is transgender? originally appeared on Quora – the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Danita Lee Ewing, former Clinical Assistant Professor at Oregon...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/what-is-it-like-to-find-out-your-child-is-transgender/

John McCain: Walking Zombie? | HuffPost

On Monday, John McCain, speaking about Iraq on ABC’s Good Morning America, said, “We have a lot of work to do and I’m afraid it’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border.”
Only it turns out Iraq and Pakistan don’t...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/john-mccain-walking-zombie-huffpost/

Alicia Keys Triumphs For The First Time As Chris Blue Wins 'The Voice' Season 12

Give it up for Alicia Keys, because girl just beat out reigning champion Blake Shelton on “The Voice.” 


The singer’s contestant Chris Blue was crowned the winner of Season 12 of the hit NBC singing competition show on Tuesday night, beating out Shelton’s finalists Lauren Duski and Aliyah...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/alicia-keys-triumphs-for-the-first-time-as-chris-blue-wins-the-voice-season-12/

Gay Teacher Poses With Lacy Fan At Meeting With Donald Trump

Posing with a lacy fan, his head cocked at an angle and sporting a rainbow LGBT pin, gay teacher Nikos Giannopoulos made the most of his photo op with President Donald Trump.


Photographed at the Oval Office in April, Giannopoulos, who teaches 11th and 12th graders at Beacon Charter High...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/gay-teacher-poses-with-lacy-fan-at-meeting-with-donald-trump/

LGB... What About The T?

So here we are, in the month of Pride all over the world. A month of declaring the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. A month of raising awareness, being visible and marching to change the world. To make the world a little more welcoming, a little more open, a little more understanding.
There is a...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/lgb-what-about-the-t/

What Do People Often Get Wrong About Being An Ally?

What do people often get wrong about being an ally? originally appeared on Quora – the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Lexa Michaelides, intersectional feminist, management engineering student at...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/what-do-people-often-get-wrong-about-being-an-ally/

Pride And Shame | HuffPost UK

June is ‘Pride month’, my computer screen incessantly tells me. We should all be happy and gay and proud.
But I do not feel proud. When I am laughed at on a subway; when I hear the not so subdued whisper of ‘that’s a man’ or ‘tranny’; when people...

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https://skpsoft.com/outspeak/pride-and-shame-huffpost-uk/