April 20, 2008Mod, not mode, is choice for real girlsThe pair of sweat pants that Amelia Gaines got as a gift a couple of Christmases ago was well-received -- until she turned them around. Emblazoned across the backside in broad letters was the word "Cheer." Amelia's mother, LeVita Washington, didn't have to say a word. She let grandma do the talking. "I don't want anything across their tail," Washington recounted her mother saying of 11-year-old Amelia and her older sister DeAnna, 12. With that, Amelia's new pants went to Goodwill. Continue reading "Mod, not mode, is choice for real girls" » April 17, 2008Walk to help cast public eye on MSMultiple sclerosis is a disease on the down low. The central nervous system disorder afflicts 400,000 Americans and can cause numbness, tingling, blindness or paralysis. But MS patients don't have their own weekend telethon, the way Jerry's Kids do. It largely afflicts women but doesn't have its own color the way breast cancer does. B-list celebrities such as Annette Funicello and Montel Williams have MS. But they don't attract the public awareness or sympathy that Michael J. Fox does for Parkinson's. Even many with MS don't talk openly about it. January 17, 2008Courage can spark change in workplaceAs the top cop at the Roanoke sheriff department, George McMillan was straight out of central casting. Large and imposing. Gregarious and effusive. Whether the next election was a month or two years away, McMillan spent his off hours campaigning for the job. He was an enthusiastic and accessible fixture at community functions -- a minority job fair, a Little League baseball game, a parade. Friendly, hand-shaking, confident. In an elected position, McMillan was the consummate politician. But this week, the testimony of woman after woman in a sexual harassment case made him out to be a predator -- a serial groper who preyed upon women who worked for him or who wanted to. November 25, 2007Outtakes with Rehema EllisRehema Ellis is a veteran journalist and NBC network correspondent who has covered just about every story imaginable. Firefighters, the environment, education, the pope and flex-time for working moms, just to name a few. But a five-part series beginning tonight on "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" strikes an intensely personal chord. Ellis is the lead reporter in the series called "African-American Women: Where They Stand." "I'm an African-American woman," Ellis said in a phone conversation Saturday from her office at NBC headquarters in New York. "This is my story." She added, "This is an American story." Spotlight finally falls on black womenAs a black woman, Tracey Wilson of Roanoke wants America to know that black women "raise our children with morals and values." Marilyn Kershaw of Blacksburg wants America to know, "I am an independent thinker. I think of myself as a woman, then as a black woman. I have very much an affinity for my race." Her daughter Njeri, 25, asks her fellow countrymen to understand that though she is educated and working on a graduate degree, she, too, has to "go through struggles." Rosalyn Robinson, 49, of Columbia, S.C., implores America not to politically pigeonhole her. She isn't yet backing anyone for president. She has no particular allegiance to Hillary because she's a woman nor to Barack because he's black. "I have problems with both of them," said the substitute teacher visiting Roanoke last week. These black women reflect the myriad of opinions and voices of a demographic too often muted in our country and whose successes and challenges too often are dismissed or overlooked. November 20, 2007Mothers' hearts can be blind to dangerThe shooting deaths four years ago of a young mother and her three children simultaneously broke Roanoke's heart and served as a chilling reminder. After Angela Arrington and her children were mercilessly gunned down in their home, the Rev. Bill Lee of Loudon Avenue Christian Church urged women in his congregation to know, really know, the men they were bringing into their lives -- and by extension, their homes. The shooter had been Arrington's boyfriend, who lived with her sometimes. November 6, 2007Hillary doesn't need your sympathyHillary Clinton is no pansy. Do I need to remind everyone this is the same woman who thought nothing of offending the card-carrying devotees of the Country Music Association with her Tammy Wynette "Stand by your man" sacrilege? And for good measure, she blasphemed Ms. Toll House in another interview. October 23, 2007Parents must have responsible discussionsFour years ago, Rebecca Liu of Roanoke took her then 9-year-old daughter to Planned Parenthood. The visit wasn't for contraception but to help her young daughter better understand menstruation. For Liu, talking openly and frankly to her daughter, now a 13-year-old middle schooler, about the girl's maturing body and all that comes with it is her parental responsibility. That's why Liu believes a decision at a Portland, Maine, middle school to make birth control pills and patches available to girls as young as 11 is "a ridiculous notion." Condoms have been available at the school's health center since 2000. Continue reading "Parents must have responsible discussions" » |
About this blog In her signature plainspoken style, Michigan native Shanna Flowers peels away the layers and gets to the heart of the issues. No pretense. Just straightforward perspective. Shanna writes about local people whose circumstances reflect decisions made as near as City Hall or as far away as the halls of Congress. Other times, she weighs in on a topic because it is incredibly ridiculous. Or heartening. Or fascinating. Read Shanna's column three days a week, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at roanoke.com
.....Advertisement.....
|
...Advertisement...
...Advertisement...
