Celebrate

It is hard to believe it has only been a week and change since that oddly sunny, warm April day where we all spent the day inside, anxiously glued to the television/computer/rapid fire media information available on Twitter and Facebook. Similar to what I've heard others say, I was feeling a bit emotionally hungover for several days... finally feeling back to myself, I've realized that a lot of my personal coping has been through celebrating, in the broadest sense of the word, since sometimes these celebrations were more like sad or mournful recognition of the events during and around the Marathon. Here are some of the ways I've been celebrating and recognizing those lost and the strength and beauty of the Boston community. Please note: everyone is going to process all of this differently, so celebrating may not always be the answer - just thought this might be helpful for anyone still feeling a bit "off".

On Saturday, Ben and I walked the whole Freedom Trail - I feel our status as Bostonians is called into question a bit here since this is something hardly any natives have done but whatever. We were even offered quite a few tours. (It was my goal to look as touristy as possible - apparently, mission accomplished.) What we realized with all of our historical stops along the way, is that this city has a long and intense history of people standing up for what is right even if it is risky. The volunteers and first responders acted as true Bostonians would on Monday and Friday of last week.

On Monday, I went to the church near my office for the moment of silence at 2:50pm simply to be with other people and away from my desk. I stayed for a few minutes to send some love and strength out to people recovering from all kinds of injuries. I left and heard church bells ringing not just from where I had just emerged, but also another church down the street. Knowing that they were ringing all across the state and that we had all stopped to take a moment of reflection made me smile.

Stopped to take this photo of the "Boston Strong" MBTA bus messages on Tuesday:

Glimpsed some photos of Sean Collier's service at MIT on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday, I went to Newbury St and Boylston St for a little Birthday Eve sushi with Jane followed by some shopping. It felt good to be out and about in the sunshine of the Back Bay and amongst others who seemed carefree and happy.

Later that night, I stopped by the makeshift memorial for Krystle Campbell, Lu Lingzi, Martin Richard and Sean Collier. There are loads of flowers, stuffed animals, signs and gifts. This was not as fun, with many crying or hugging, but it's certainly important to recognize the loss of young, promising lives. It was also heartwarming that the monument was more crowded than any of the stores I had been in before.

Thursday, I went to the Sox game, where the crowd clapped just as enthusiastically for Big Papi's first home run of the season as they did for the five firefighters recognized during the game.

And finally, snapped this beautiful blooming tree on Friday...

Boston, You're Our Home.

Well said, Katie Lannan: 

To be in Boston on Marathon Monday is to feel a buzz in the air, like it’s the last day of classes before summer break, or it’s 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve and your boss just sent out an email that you can all go home at 3. It’s feeling a sense of excitement, euphoria, electricity, and to know that sense is shared by everyone you pass. It’s high-fives from strangers, it’s sidewalk barbecues, it’s families enjoying a day together, it’s even sometimes Red Sox fans celebrating a win. It’s what Disneyworld pretends to be.

To be on Heartbreak Hill, on Beacon Street, on Comm Ave, in the home stretch on Boylston–to be in Boston–during the marathon is to feel Boston’s pulse, to become a part of it.

Sending wishes for safety and comfort to you, your family and friends. 

Dogs. Wearing. Pantyhose.

Yes, Happy Monday indeed! Photos of dogs wearing pantyhose are all you need to jump aboard this train.

Many thanks to Cristina for sharing memes popular in China.

Happy National Public Health Week!

Despite all of the griping I do on here about pizza not being a vegetable, apparently the field of public health is making progress. Look at all of this super duper stuff we do!

...and if you're not the readin' type, watch this video, made by the American Public Health Association, outlining different public health initiatives' return on investment - meaning for every $1 invested in [insert initiative here] there is $[much larger than $1] saved in future costs. Yeah, it's awesome.

Enjoy!

Girl Rising

In public health, at least within the social and behavioral sciences, you learn in your first semester about "fundamental cause theory" which was developed by Phelan and Link while they researched the association between health disparities and socioeconomic status (SES). They found that even after smaller, more immediate obstacles to health care were overcome, or improvements in health care were made, individuals with low SES still had higher morbidity and mortality than their similar counterparts with high SES. This is because SES embodies such a wide variety of factors in an individual's life - from the knowledge they have to the economic resources they obtain to the social connections they nurture - which all contribute to their overall health.

Education is one of the major contributing factors to SES. In many societies, most highly paid, highly respected jobs require education and training and are out of reach to those without the necessary degrees. In many countries, girls go without an education, either because they are married very young, their family needs them to go to work instead, or it is simply seen by parents as useless to educate daughters compared to sons. Regardless of why, the lack of education often means that girls are having more children at a younger age, lower lifetime earnings, and in turn their children are less educated.

Girl Rising is a film about 9 girls around the world who overcome different obstacles to get to school because they know that an education is important. There will be a screening in Braintree, MA on April 23 at the newly renovated theater, provided we get a few more people to join and demonstrate a demand for the film. So come on, reserve your ticket (of which a portion of the sale goes to organizations working to increase access to education for girls and basic health necessities for everyone) - whether you're interested in education, global projects that target fundamental causes, the resiliency of young human spirits, or just comfy chairs and buttery popcorn... this is the movie for you!

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Now I just want 37 more people to sign up so I can see this movie. Preferably with friends.

j.a.m.'s jam debuts!

BU School of Public Health Craft Fair

March 28, 12pm - 2pm

72 E. Concord Street, Room L-109

Come by for some locally sourced, homemade jam. I'll be "spreading the love" with tasty samples!

Special thanks to Amanda for my awesome business cards and to all of my friends who let me peddle jam to them prior to having my very own craft fair booth. 

Steubenville, OH

A quick background on the case out of Steubenville, OH for anyone who has not yet heard: Two teenagers, Ma'lik Richmond and Trent Mays, were convicted of raping and sexually assaulting a classmate of theirs who had passed out when all three were drinking alcohol and traveling to different parties. They actually dragged her around, joking about how "dead" she was. The conviction was not difficult, since they supplied the evidence. They had video taped and photographed themselves and each other raping and sexually assaulting her and then shared them on various forms of social media. There was no "allegedly" here. Many witnesses saw them do this, both in real life and posted online.

I usually don't put direct quotes from articles within the blog post in this volume because I like the more subtle suggestion of a link to an article... but subtlety cannot let messages be lost here. This is too important.

"The pictures from Steubenville don’t just show a girl being raped. They show that rape being condoned, encouraged, celebrated. What type of culture could possibly produce such pictures? Only one in which women's autonomy and right to safety counts for so little that these rapists, and those who held the cameras, felt themselves 'perfectly justified'. Only one in which rape and sexual humiliation of women and girls is so normalized that it does not register as a crime in the minds of the assailants."

This case is particularly appalling because:

1. It happened in public. And no one stopped it. Yes, social norms and fitting in is really important to everyone, and especially in the (oftentimes awkward) adolescent years. But the "wanting to fit in" should maybe stop you from admitting that you watch a certain TV show or enjoy a certain singer... not standing up to people who are injuring and violating someone, regardless of their sex/race/anything else.

2. The media coverage has been sympathetic to Richmond and Mays. Yes, the ones who drunkenly, repeatedly raped and assaulted their classmate. If you want your blood to boil, watch this absurdly awful video of CNN as the court ruling came down. Seriously - who let the reporter go on air saying that, and who decided that it should be broadcast? Both should be fired.

It's so enraging and disheartening that things like this still happen in our world, and that it's not the only case of rape and sexual assault where the person who was raped is being harassed and punished while the rapist is protected, that I get blinded and don't fully address the situation. But since we don't know all of the facts, and probably won't ever, what I have to say is this: 

If you want to talk about personal responsibility, and how she shouldn't have had so much to drink or wore a low cut shirt or short skirt (which our culture popularizes for God's sake!) because then she's just oh so tempting.... 

Where and when does that "personal responsibility" narrative ever shift to the attackers? 

Not just in this case, but everywhere: what about "You should not ever touch someone who does not want to be touched, especially if they are not able to defend themselves" - where did that get lost in this dialogue? Probably in rape culture -

"What makes these men so sure of their inviolable right to stick their fingers and cocks into any part of any female they can hold down that they actually make and distribute images of each other doing so? Rape culture. That’s what rape culture is. The cultural acceptance of rape."

And so I leave you with this: 

"This particular evil has been rotting at the fractious heart of Western culture for so long that it barely registers as abnormal, and the initial emotion when it is challenged is rage. Rage that anyone dare question the notion that men's 'bright futures' matter more than women's right not to be attacked and degraded. It's an evil that believes that men work and play sports and make an impact on the world and women are there to get fucked. America has been raised on that belief, and like any dogma it can turn ugly when challenged."

Bring on the ugliness. We NEED to challenge dogma. Challenge THIS evil dogma.