I’m pretty sure you have heard all of the talk about the IUD and if not, maybe the commercials that seems to be popping up more frequently. Have you considered the IUD? To ease your mind a bit I just wanted to share my personal experience with the IUD.

I first heard about it from a friend who was getting the IUD herself. I looked into further information about the IUD from a doctor in my school-based clinic. I was previously using the pill but I decided to stop because I wasn’t sexually active but then I was so I’d start again, but then I wasn’t so I’d stop, I think you get the point, I would start and stop using the pill, and of course with condoms. I couldn’t have been introduced to the IUD at a better time because it was just what I needed, a contraception that I didn’t have to worry about taking when I needed to. I chose to get Mirena after reading information from my doctor about it. I was definitely excited about lighter, fewer, and maybe even no periods over time too because I always had severe cramps so I killed two birds with one stone, and ultimate that’s why I didn’t choose Paragaurd.

Personally, Mirena works great for me because it is just what I expected because my body does have the common reaction although all people don’t. I eventually encouraged another friend to get the IUD but her experience is seemingly different even though we both have Mirena. I am trying to persuade her to not remove it because your body will get used to it over time because I will be devastated if she gets it removed. I really really like the IUD and I think it should be everyone’s first choice, especially if you are young and do not want children right now.

Some people are definitely hesitant but I assure you that you shouldn’t be because the procedure itself is a very swift one. You will experience uncomfortable cramping when it’s time to dilate the cervix to insert the IUD. The worst part of the procedure actually has nothing to do with the insertion at all, but the part where the gyn uses the duck lips. Definitely the most uncomfortable part but you will have to experience that anyway as you become sexual active and have to get cervical exams and pap smears. You’ll definitely feel fearless after experiencing the IUD though, it’s a great way to assure protection from unwanted pregnancy but of course you should still always use condoms to protect you and your partner against STis and HIV/AIDS.

To find out if the IUD is right for you, visit www.maybetheiud.org.

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Someone help me, I can’t see,
I’m blind to what is clear and what is not supposed to be.

To see me ever leaving by holding what’s inside
The pain goes through my head and it’s ruining my mind

Lust is not Love and Love is not Lust
The way love is like something that doesn’t rust

The burning doesn’t matter when it all seems so nice
But down there you know that something is not right,

Tick Tock the clock keeps ticking away
Time you know that’s not going to stay.

Don’t be fooled by what your eyes tell you from what you see
In deception you don’t know the same from fake and reality.

Don’t objectify the people that are in your view
Cause you’re ruining your character, which you don’t want to do

What people don’t know is that love has no face
To any person among you, now love is something you can chase.

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There was a very recent article on Yahoo about child brides and the first legal annulment that took place in India for an 18-year old female, Laxmi Sargara. She was wedded to her potential groom when she was one because her parents relied on financial support from the groom’s family. For her to receive an annulment for the arranged marriage is one of the first, and major steps in reforming the traditional practices that take away the choice, freedom, and happiness of males and females. This article was such a powerful piece to me, especially knowing that the rights of children to choose who they want to wed have been politically acknowledged.

Prior to reading this article, I read another article on the same topic on an issue of the National Geographic magazine. In that article, the author covered many stories of young girls who were wed to men more than twice their age, most likely because of financial reasons as well, but I do not quite remember. And the most memorable part was the last sentence that had a very lasting impact on me. It was about a young girl, around 15 who was rushed to the hospital and later died from internal bleeding. She was forced to have sex with her husband who was two to three times as old as she was. Sargara’s ground-breaking case gives hope that these inhumane practices will eventually be stopped.

In some parts of the country, arranged marriages are a cultural practice and a commenter online for the Yahoo article pointed out his dissatisfaction with the annulment and that what use to be a tradition is slowly eroding. However, there is no reason to respect a tradition when the practices in a tradition do not respect who you are as an individual.

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Last week on Tuesday April, 17, I went up to Albany with other TORCH Peer Leaders to lobby for reproductive rights. It was my first time lobbying in Albany and meeting with pro-choice elected officials. Our goal was to get these elected officials to support the passage of the Reproductive Health Act. The Reproductive Health Act guarantees a woman’s right to control her reproductive health which will ensures that a woman will be able to have an abortion in New York. In addition to lobbying our representatives we also attended workshops informing us about crisis pregnancy centers, protecting access to birth control, online activism, and state abortion laws. I had a great time and will highly encourage my peers to attend in the future.

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Every year since my sixteenth birthday, I have donated blood at my school’s annual blood drive. Each time I donate blood, I have to fill out an extensive questionnaire which requires donors to divulge personal information about their sex lives- their gay male sex lives, in particular. It is made very clear by clinicians and by the New York Blood Center itself that males who have had sex with another male, even once, are not allowed to donate blood, nor are females who have had sex with a male who has had sex with a male. The justification for such a rule is that it is a preventative measure intended to ensure that no recipients of blood donations contract HIV/ AIDS.

The New York Blood Center also makes it very clear that ALL blood donations are tested for HIV/ AIDS, as well as syphilis and other conditions and diseases that are transmissible by blood.

Those who support the ban on gay blood make two main claims. First, they claim that if gay blood is allowed to be donated, the spread of HIV/ AIDS will increase. This is blatantly untrue, as I have already mentioned, because all blood donations are tested for HIV/ AIDS. The second claim is that it costs the New York Blood Center money to have to test gay blood for HIV/ AIDS, which is also untrue, because, at the risk of being repetitive, ALL BLOOD DONATIONS ARE TESTED FOR HIV/ AIDS! And again, ALL BLOOD DONATIONS ARE TESTED FOR HIV/ AIDS!

Those who truly comprehend how important blood is for those in need of transfusions would not reject any healthy, disease free blood on any basis. How convenient, then, that we don’t simply take a donor’s word that he does not have HIV or AIDS! How convenient, that regardless of safe sexual behavior or lack of intravenous drug use, all blood is contaminated until proven healthy!

Gay blood is blood. Straight blood is blood. If the blood is unhealthy, do not inject it into a patient’s body. It’s as simple as that.

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All of a sudden I’m a TV fanatic; I went from not watching at all to watching it all. I was watching The Game on BET on Tuesday night; I watched encores all night. At one point it dawned on me that Melanie, the main character, was devastated that she could not have children because she had an abortion in her previous relationship which is completely untrue. Having an abortion does not affect your ability to conceive afterwards, unless something else is going on with your body. Don’t blame it on abortion.

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Lies always ended with byes.
I always asked myself why lie if the truth will always come out.
Why hurt people & tore their heart out.
Why tell them that you love them if you don’t mean it.
Why leave the one you love for the one you like if the one you like will hurt you with the one they love.

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On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a young African-American teen was fatally shot by a biracial 28-year-old man by the name of George Zimmerman. He was walking to a relative’s house in Sanford, Florida from a convenience store where he bought a can of Arizona Iced Tea and a bag of Skittles. Zimmerman asserted self-defense; he has not been arrested or trialed in court.

Personally, I believe that the Travyon Martin case should receive justice. An African-American teenager should not be targeted as a suspect of any sort because of his race and the fact that he was wearing a hoodie at the time of shooting. Zimmerman claimed that Martin looked suspicious and decided to follow him although he was told not to by the Sanford Police Department. I believe that he disobeyed official orders and should not have followed him nor used his weapon to fire at Trayvon’s chest. After all, Trayvon was unarmed and was not looking for trouble from anyone.

This proves to show that America still is racially motivated. Young Trayvon should have been able to live past 18 but his early departure is not yet put to rest. He deserves justice.

In order to protest the prejudice visible in this case, Americans use the hoodie as a symbol of intolerance. WEAR A HOODIE for young Trayvon Martin!

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In the news I heard about Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed because he was black and wearing a hoodie. A Hispanic/Latino man saw him and shot and killed him and has not been arrested for it. Here is a link that will give you the full story if you haven’t already heard about the tragedy. Why is it now that Florida’s law about ‘suspicious’ behavior is only brought to attention at the cost of a life?

As a young, black female this personally affects me. Discrimination and racism still exist everyday in our lives, on the train, on the bus. I’ve experienced it. But, when ignorance takes a life it has gone much too far! When will justice for the black race be served? When will justice for Trayvon be served? I don’t know the day or the month or the time, but I know from experience it will be a while before we are safe. Would that street watcher have shot a white male in that hoodie?

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It’s very rare, but I actually got the chance to watch some TV this weekend. I started off watching Real Housewives of Atlanta when the premiere of a new show came on afterwards. In my oblivion to what shows are even on TV anymore, I watched Shahs of Sunset. I found it particularly interesting because it’s a reality show of the lives of a group of Persians. I initially thought the ethnic group to be more religious so it intrigues me to see how Americanization affects different cultures who have migrated to America. The only thing that I am a little concerned about is the fact that I don’t know what the original Persian culture is like so these TV personalities will be seen as representatives of their culture. I am aware and conscious of this thinking enough to avoid generalizing the Persian culture based solely on this show, it isn’t some History Channel or textbook, but people will watch and run with what they see.

People are not to blame for the way that they think but the nature of their surroundings are. Have you seen Shahs of Sunset? What do you think about it as far as this cast being representative for their Persian/Iranian community? (If you missed the premiere, here’s the trailer of the show.)

Clicked the link? Comment and share how you feel about the opening itself and I’ll share more of what I think.

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