Archive of ‘B-Metro’ category

B-Metro Feminism

Do STEM Like a Girl

highlands 21

“Little girls with dreams become women with vision.”

The quote above is on a print on the wall of my home office. The quote above speaks a truth that drives so much of what I do. I believe that if you train up a girl in the way she should go, when she is old she will not depart from it. That’s why I created a Women and Media elective at the high school where I teach — I want girls to know about feminism and the women’s rights movements and to be smart enough to examine representations of women in the media. That’s why I dream of one day starting a feminist blogging camp for teen girls through See Jane Write. And that’s why I was honored to team up with B-Metro last week to help promote the new STEM program at Highlands School in Birmingham.

Dubbed Highlands 21, this new program is a strategic school-wide effort to implement 21st century learning techniques by building enhanced facilities, increasing classroom resources and improving faculty development. The school has launched a 4K-8th grade initiative to integrate science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) throughout the Highlands School curriculum with the support of two state-of-the-art STEM labs designed by PITSCO.

Here’s a fun fact about me: Even though I’m writer and English teacher today I attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts for its Math/Science program, not creative writing. Because of my amazing English classes (and a love for writing that I had since I was 7), I left ASFA eager to pursue a career in journalism, not science, technology, engineering, or math. But because of ASFA’s Math/Science program I also left with a great deal of confidence and never for one second considered STEM classes or careers off-limits for women and girls. (In fact, my freshman year of college I took a senior-level calculus class, made 100s on every test and tutored many of the upperclassmen also taking the course.)

A recent survey of educators revealed that only 30 percent of teachers feel equipped to properly encourage girls in math and science classes. The programs and professional development of Highlands School’s STEM initiative and others like it can help change that.

Also STEM programs teach students how to find answers in informational text and thus can help them in their language arts classes, too. Perhaps that’s why I liked English so much that I wound up teaching it!

In high school STEM classes gave me confidence and better communication skills. I’m excited that Highlands Schools is working to do that for other girls at an even earlier age.
Learn more about the Highlands School STEM initiative here.

B-Metro blogging freelancing See Jane Write WBHM Write Like a Girl

Currently: The Writer’s Edition

javacia #bloglikecrazy

Currently is a feature Dani Hampton of Sometimes Sweet and several other bloggers I follow occasionally post on their sites. Currently is essentially a list of what you’re into at the moment and is a great way for your readers to get to know you better. Earlier this year I decided to start doing Currently posts with a twist — Currently:The Writer’s Edition. 


Freelancing for Birmingham Magazine. Be sure to check out this month’s issue which includes a profile I wrote on Shella Sylla, the founder of SisterGolf. SisterGolf is an amazing program that teaches women how to play golf and how to use golf to network and enhance their business relationships.  


Brainstorming ideas for business. I haven’t been doing much personal blogging lately because much because most of my attention has been growing See Jane Write. I even have a business coach now. That sounds so fancy! I’m working hard to build See Jane Write into a profitable, but meaningful business that truly empowers women who write. 


Pitching to WBHM. Each month I’m pitching story ideas to my city’s NPR affiliate. Each month you can find a new blog post by yours truly on WBHM.org. And on the last Friday of each month you can catch me on the air at 90.3 FM (or on the website if you don’t live in Birmingham) discussing my latest post. Last month I wrote about how despite the fact that I’m 33, the women who inspire me most are under the age of 21. For this piece I interviewed one of my former students who recently launched her own magazine. Color me proud!

And speaking of being proud, I must say that out of all my writing endeavors the one that makes me most proud right now is my column for B-Metro magazine — Write Like a Girl. Each month I write a personal essay on women’s empowerment and through this column I feel I’ve produced some of my best work. In this month’s column I examine the intersection of feminism and faith.


Blogging about #bloglikecrazy.  Every year I challenge the ladies of See Jane Write to publish a new blog post every day for 30 days in November. I call this challenge #bloglikecrazy. This year, for the first time, I’ll be publishing my #bloglikecrazy posts at the See Jane Write blog and I’m hosting a #bloglikecrazy kick-off workshop on November 1. To learn more visit the #bloglikecrazy page at SeeJaneWriteBham.com.


What’s going on in your writing life?

*Originally posted at WriteousBabe.com.

B-Metro blogging My Feminist Fingertips The Writeous Babe Project WBHM

My Feminist Fingertips

My Feminist Fingertips

 

We ladies who love sparkly or colorful nail polish and other so-called “girly” things are often given a bad rap. We’re accused of being a “woman-child” who is romanticizing youth.  And even though we may be helping our friends start businesses or starting companies of our own we’re not real adults because we’re not knocked up.

Well, this woman child has an aqua green painted middle finger for all those folks buying into that nonsense.

I may have some pastel polish on my nails on any given day but that doesn’t make me or my fingertips any less feminist.

In July these feminist fingertips of mine wrote blog posts about balance, BlogHer, e-books, and Beyonce –all with the goal of empowering women. My feminist fingertips typed proposals, promotional material and panel discussion questions and I hosted my very own blogging mini-conference on July 19.

My feminist fingertips wrote an essay for B-Metro magazine on feminist fitness and tackled the question of whether or not it’s anti-feminist to want six-pack abs.

And my feminist fingertips wrote a piece for WBHM 90.3 FM (Birmingham’s NPR station) about my painful experiences with colorism.

As my pal Carrie Rollwagen once wrote, this “woman-child” business is just plain old chauvinism dressed up as feminism, because it says that what a woman does (like starting a business, honing a talent practicing a craft) is less important than the way she looks while she’s doing it.”

And don’t get me wrong — I do care about the way I look. As I’ve said on this blog before, I have some stories and I want to look good while I share them.

But don’t judge my work by my wardrobe and don’t judge the depth of my feminism by the color of my fingernails.

 

Originally posted at WriteousBabe.com. 

B-Metro Write Like a Girl

How I Landed My Own Column (Without Writing a Pitch)

Photo by Sherri Ross Walters

Photo by Sherri Ross Walters



Just as I do at the end of every year, this past December I wrote down a list of goals for 2014. This time, though, I did things a bit differently. This time I wrote my goals as declarations not aspirations. So instead of writing “I want to land my own column in a local print publication,” I wrote “I will land my own column in a local print publication.” And by January 31 I had done exactly that.

I am now a columnist for B-Metro magazine. My first piece ran in this month’s issue and addresses the issue of whether or not there is a feminist aesthetic. In other words, can you tell a person is a feminist by looking at her?

My column, called Write Like a Girl, will tackle everyday feminism and women’s issues each month. You can read my debut piece “This Is What a Feminist Looks Like” here.

When I wrote down my declaration last year I also determined that once I did snag this column opportunity I would write a post about how I did it. In the post I would examine the anatomy of the perfect pitch. But I didn’t write the perfect pitch. In fact, I didn’t write any pitch. I was actually offered this opportunity before I had the chance to ask for it.

Nonetheless, I do have a few tips to offer.

Believe in your goals. I’m a woman of faith. If you’re not, this tip might sound a bit weird, but it’s similar to concepts explored in books like The Secret. I truly think that one reason I got this opportunity is because I believed I would. I had faith, faith that I displayed by writing out this goal as a declaration and not simply as an aspiration.

Share your goals. I also believe in the power of simply saying your dreams out loud. You have to be careful with this. You can’t share your dreams with everyone. Some people are haters and will discourage you from going after your goals. But I am fortunate enough to have a group of women in my life who support me, women I met through See Jane Write. One evening at a coffee shop in Homewood I shared my dream with my pal Tanya Sylvan. The glow in her eyes showed she believed I could achieve this as much as I did and that gave me the confidence boost I needed to enter the new year with boldness. Furthermore, sharing your dreams can help in a practical sense as your friends can let you know when they learn of opportunities that may help you with your goals.

Support the goals of others. I have this mantra about blogging that I often preach: Focus on people, not page views. Some may think that the editors of B-Metro approached me about writing a column because I have a wildly popular blog that gets millions of page views each month. I do not. But this little blog you’re reading right now is part of a bigger project. For the past three years I’ve been offering panel discussions, workshops, and networking events for local female writers and bloggers through the See Jane Write organization and I’ve made name for myself among local editors in the process. I landed my freelance gigs with UAB Magazine and WBHM 90.3 FM because of See Jane Write. By striving to help people make their dreams come true I began to realize my dreams as well.

Have you landed a column with a local or national publication? How did you do it?

Originally posted at SeeJaneWriteBham.com.
B-Metro blogging freelancing The Writeous Babe Project UAB Magazine WBHM

Currently – The Writer’s Edition

At the Vitalogy Wellness Center Open House Party and having too much fun on the job with my pal Tanya.

At the Vitalogy Wellness Center Open House Party and having too much fun on the job with my pal Tanya.

 

Currently is a feature Dani Hampton of Sometimes Sweet and several other bloggers I follow occasionally post on their sites. Currently is essentially a list of what you’re into at the moment and is a great way for your readers to get to know you better. Today I decided to do a Currently post with a twist. And so I present Currently — The Writer’s Edition. 

Freelancing for UAB Magazine, along with several other local media outlets. Because I am a teacher, my piece State of Education: UAB Alumni Serve at Alabama’s Top Teachers means a lot to me. This piece for UAB Magazine was one of the first opportunities I’ve had to marry my interest in education with my journalistic work. 

Brainstorming ideas for short stories and poems. This is something I haven’t done since college, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about getting back into writing fiction and poetry. Perhaps it’s because I’m so inspired by my students in our school’s creative writing department. Or perhaps it’s because of all wonderful literature read by the women who participated in Phenomenal Woman, the African-American read-in See Jane Write hosted last month. The powerful prose and poetry read that night reminded me of why I fell in love with writing in the first place. It wasn’t see my name in magazines or on the cover of books. It wasn’t for blog page views either. I wrote because I loved to do so. Last month’s See Jane Write event made me want to write like a girl again. I want to sit in my room for hours writing not because I need to meet a deadline but because I just can’t help myself.

Pitching to WBHM. Each month I’m pitching story ideas to my city’s NPR affiliate. Each month you can find a new blog post by yours truly on WBHM.org. And on the last Friday of each month you can catch me on the air at 90.3 FM (or on the website if you don’t live in Birmingham) discussing my latest post. Last month I explored the meaning of feminism and womanism in a post called In Search of My Womanist Self. You can hear an excerpt of my radio segment here. 

Blogging about wellness. Not only am I’m writing about my fitness adventures as I attempt to exercise daily, but on March 6 I had the opportunity to cover the Vitalogy Wellness Center Open House Party as part of B-Metro magazine’s Blog Team. While I was there I even had my first Ashiatsu massage. That’s right; I let somebody walk on my back for the sake of a blog post. It was worth it. 

 

What’s going on in your writing life? 

Cross-posted at The Writeous Babe Project.