I worked in Jordan, which is an Arab country in southwest Asia.  Jordan is bordered by Israel to the west, Syria to the north and Iraq to the east. I lived in a tent with 100 other women. There was one showering facility to accommodate all the women on the site. Inside of the shower facilities were Ten shower heads, for all the women on the site. Approximately 134 women resided on the site, so easy math will show that we did not have an adequate living arrangement. ​

Juneteenth, signifies the day of freedom for all slaves. It is known as the longest running African American holiday, a day long celebration for our independence. In honor of recognizing our ancestors history, it feels befitting to also recognize those that continue to struggle against a similar powerless position. Just last year in 2020, Congress Democrats proposed a resolution to the exception clause in the 13th Amendment that permits, what prisoners call “modern day slavery. The clause states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

I have lost count of the many times I have heard women, both family members and friends coo over men they considered “tall, dark, and handsome.” And for some of those women, the taller and darker, the better! These characteristics were always discussed as something to admire in men, but what happens when those very characteristics put those same men’s lives in danger?