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“A balm for the soul”
  review on Goodreads
GOOD PEOPLE Book
upworthy

Alana Karsch

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8 love letters to survivors of sexual violence. The one from the dad made me cry.

Dear You, If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual violence, know that it was not your fault and you are loved. Love, MeTRIGGER WARNING: There are no descriptions of sexual violence in the following letters, but they certainly allude to traumas and may be triggering.

Two female activists have started a revolution of healing. It began Valentine's Day 2014 (that's Feb. 14, for those of you who don't observe the "holiday"). They created #SurvivorLoveLetter on Twitter for survivors of sexual violence to reclaim a potentially painful day and turn it into a love fest ... for themselves! Brilliant.

There is also a Tumblr page where people are posting creative photos of their letters. Full disclosure: As an art therapist, this project is pretty much what I live for. People healing through creative expression is stunning to witness. Read a few of the moving letters below.


This one pretty much bursts my heart wide open:

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This Cartoon Gives Explicit Instructions For How Not To Talk About A Heavy Subject

There are some bad habits out there that are pretty despicable. (Some potentially offensive language follows, FYI.)

One of those habits is focusing on the plight of a rapist in a rape case, like we saw during the infamous Steubenville rape case. The alleged rapists were defended and offered sympathy on several news outlets. Uh, how does that make any sense? This comic lays it out for all of us. Keep it as a reminder when you come across someone who needs it.


Nah, if you do this, we're actually not cool. No finger guns for you. I'mma stare you down until you recognize that you're full of B.S. and start focusing on who really matters — the survivor of the crime.

Here are your instructions. Lemme know if you still don't get it.

You could share this using the big ol' share buttons if you like. Could help educate someone you know who needs a little wake up call. Up to you.

This one's just a bonus for those commenters we're all tired of:

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A Joke Ad That Seems So Real, It Has People Outraged At A Popular Clothing Store

I'm just gonna say: THIS IS NOT REAL. It's a parody ad. The thing is, it looks so real, people are getting extra pissed off about it. Why does it look so real? Because it is way similar to actual images we see in pop culture these days. To which I say, "Yuck."

Let's learn a term together, k?

Cultural appropriation is when a dominant culture adopts portions of a minority culture's traditions and uses them willy-nilly whenever they feel like it.


Like when people who shall remain nameless* wear Native American headdresses for fashion purposes. Have we not learned that that's wrong by now?

*Pharrell ... Gwen Stefani ... so many others. :/

Heroes

When we think 'homeless,' we don't picture this face.

Some people call the Arctic the "world's air conditioner." Without it, things'll get pretty toasty. Ice melting, things getting hotter. That also means animals like the adorable and majestic (how they manage to be both things, I dunno, but they do) polar bear is in danger of losing its home. Which means the worst for them. And for us.

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Unilever and the United Nations