Volunteer with The Collective Advocates

*Volunteers Needed*

On Saturday November 17th 2012, The Collective Advocates and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF will present a film screening of "Not My Life," a documentary on human trafficking. The event will be held in New York City on the campus of City College from 2-3pm. The Collective Advocates are seeking enthusiastic volunteers to assist in the outreach and facilitation of this event. 

Before volunteering consider some of these facts:

• In the U.S. 300,000 plus people are at-risk of being trafficked
• 50% of trafficked victims are children
• Minority children have some of the highest incidence of missing and exploited children and the highest incidence of unreported cases

If you live in the New York & New Jersey area, we need volunteers for:

• Greeters
• Event Assistants
• Social Media
• Street Outreach Team

If you reside outside of the New York & New Jersey area, we need volunteers for:

• Social Media
• Bloggers

Go to our Volunteer tab above and fill out the form. Please leave your volunteer preferences in the comment section of the form.

WTH?

Guest Blogger:
Tresia Bowles

It's been two months since I started college and now that I've gotten use to it things have begun to pick up. I'm starting to understand my classes better and how they work. My grades are gradually improving and midterms are coming up so I've really been focusing on my studies. I've gotten so into Zumba that I've decided to train to become a Zumba instructor next summer. I've also begun reconsidering my major. Although I love writing, I hate being limited or forced to write about a certain subject. I've been thinking about possibly studying mass media or broadcasting. It's all up in the air these days!
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Blog Talk Radio

The Collective Advocates' Asha Tarry will be guest co-hosting with Ed Herman tonight at 8pm EST.

Be sure to listen in live and if you have any questions drop them in the comments below, leave them on our Facebook wall, or call in starting at 8:10pm to ask your questions on air at 917-889-7765. 

Nature & Nurture, They Can Co-Exist

Photo by Hitchster

Nature and nurture have been two words I've heard throughout my career. One stems from the biological perspective and the other, the environmental. The hope is not to lose one while identifying with the other.  Like when you feel locked in a job and you don't know what to do next how do you know when to say, "enough is enough" here, it's time to move on? It seems to me a lot of people are asking that question these days. Some of us may feel stuck doing what we've been doing so long we don't think we have the skills to go anywhere else. Or we don't believe we will make the kind of money, or reap the types of benefits we get at our current gig. So, then is the question really, what do you  want to do with your life? Or possibly, what sacrifices are you willing to make to take that chance?

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Who Gets To Choose Who's Beautiful, Who's Not?

When I was 6 or 7 years old I had hair that hung in ponytails past my shoulders. As I grew up, my hair grew longer. So did my sister's. So did a lot of women in my family. When I entered middle school most of the minority girls didn't look like me nor I, them, but we were all beautiful, in different ways, in various shades of brown.

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Women Who Act Like Men and the Men Who Despise Them

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Men and language. What does it all mean? They say, men are from Mars and women are from Venus, so does that explain away why we communicate differently almost all of the time?

I was in the barber shop recently and I heard a few barbers saying "I don't know why women want to act like men!" in response to women defending themselves against hurtful things men say and do to women. "Why do women want to act like men?" that's the best way to explain a woman's right to defend her integrity or to stand up for herself when she's hurt by something someone has said or done to her? WOW! This wasn't the first time I've heard men ask that question but I just wonder why do some men think that self defense is equal to gender stereotypes? I thought we were living in a post Flintstones era. My bad.
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Giving Just Because

Photo by Affinity1

My earliest memory of volunteering began when I was about 15 and my parents told me I was going to spend my summer vacation helping out at Vacation Bible School. I didn't believe I had a choice and I wasn't too happy about it. When giving up my time for free became meaningful I was 19 years old and a sophomore in college. I volunteered for the first time, willingly, with a social services agency that helped parents and children who were infected and affected by HIV/AIDS attend a sleep away camp for 1 week, free of charge. Well, that was over 10 years ago, and to this day I've been back there again and I still can't stop talking about my experiences there. I saw so much. I learned so much. I laughed and worried so much there and after I left. But I also had the most eye-opening, life changing experience that I carry with me to this day.

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Discipline/Violence: What's The Difference?

Rev.Creflo Dollar, ever heard that name? He is a Christian minister of megachurch World Changers Church International in Atlanta, GA. This summer he was arrested for allegedly choking and punching his 15 y.o. daughter onto the floor of their home after he refused to allow her to go out late one night, and she turned and walked away from him while they were having the discussion. Apparently, the daughter walking away from him enraged Creflo and he attacked her.
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Slavery By Any Other Name

Guest Blogger:
Rosechell Spencer III

I have a passion and a mission to serve minority communities. My calling is intimately linked to my cultural heritage including my ancestry, history, and upbringing (my mostly being raised by two fearfully creative, undoubtedly powerful, and decidedly beautiful black women). I aim to unite minority communities in an effort to reach a more positive future. My driving force, in turns of the African-American (A.A.) community, has been the atrocities of slavery. I often talk about the methodology used and lasting effects of slavery. I equate modern jail systems to new-age slavery, but this weekend I was formerly introduced to a more precise and simple answer to the equivalent of modern-day slavery; human trafficking. 

Read more »

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Our first Blog Talk Radio segment featured Triple Negative Breast Cancer survivors Madeline Oliveras and Roxanne Martinez. In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month we wanted to feature that episode for another listen.

Listen to internet radio with SISTERS IN HARMONY on Blog Talk Radio

Recently Madeline celebrated her six year anniversary of being a TNBC survivor! We encourage you to listen to her and Roxanne's stories and share it on Facebook, Twitter or e-mail. You never know, you might be helping to save a life.

For information on breast cancer and TNBC check our connections page.