According to the International Energy Agency, in 2010, the Americas consumed 46.7 percent of total energy in the world. As the largest consumers of energy in the world, the American people need more education about green products and services. Businesses have a unique role in helping the public...

It will be six months since hurricane Sandy ravaged the shores of the East Coast, six months since residents in hard hit areas of Staten Island, the Rockaways and parts of New Jersey have struggled to get their lives back on track. For some residents, relief has been slower than...

Can we please stop framing rape as only about male perpetrators harming female victims? Rape is an extension of a cultural obsession with violence, not solely an issue of just one gender being violated. Let us not get confused; yes, there are specific ways that gender is targeted through rape...

As online consultations move forward regarding the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) post-2015 framework, civil society, academia, governments and the UN continue to grapple with what priorities to set for an agenda that will be a no-holds-barred assault on poverty. Resoundingly, the peoples of the world that have been...

Happy International Day of Peace!

Every year, September 21st is the day that is dedicated to works around the world toward peace, one person, one act at a time. An international day focused on peace provides simultaneous opportunities to stop...

Eleven years after 9/11, I remain deeply disturbed about its symbolism in our society. The day the towers fell was the day that Americans began to overtly beat war drums with widespread popularity. What it should have been was a day that Americans stood up wholesale and demanded that our...

Disclaimer: Names and places have been altered to protect identities.

I began to identify and resist the unfair expectations of females at the age of 8. There were a handful of boys in my school that I would play with from time to time that were 1.5-3 years older than...

Last week, the Rio Dialogues culminated in a three-day panel discussion that engaged Rio+20 conference participants in a grand civil participatory process. The top thirty recommendations were chosen from parallel processes that included the online dialogues top ten picks from a million votes world-wide, the top ten picks from 111...

Now in full swing, the Rio Dialogues continue to provide an opportunity for the civil, scientific, public and private communities to take their ideas center stage. Among the ten topics, recommendations were viewed and voted on by the platform community on June 3rd. The next round of crowdsourcing is on...

In the big lead up to Rio+20, the community concerned about sustainable development is all a-buzz. There is talk of PrepCom, side-events and dialogues at the Rio+20 conference. Despite all the momentum, critics note that the level of civil society input lacks luster. There...

Trigger warning: Some links within this post may be disturbing and can potentially cause emotional and psychological stress. Please indulge in positive self-care if you experience such reactions and seek out a friend or professional to talk to.

There is a public video on Facebook that depicts what appears to...

Sustainable development is the only development that makes sense. -- President Bill Clinton

When I heard President Clinton say those words, I smiled. How can sustainable development not make sense to anyone who is listening? Sure, I have heard clever field experts mention that development, given its...

"F*&k you, you're just a B^#&h. You hear me B^#&h?! You're just a B^#&h, always remember that... Shut the f*&k up. NOW! I will beat your a$$ B^#&h!"

Perched in my window on a sunny Saturday morning, I witnessed the above words spoken from the mouth of a teenage male...

Cry freedom! Alsukuut yew'atey al mewfaaweka: Silence gives consent.

A year ago, Syrians flooded the country streets, defiant against violent repression. No matter; when the spirit is broken open, the threat of death via the rally cry for freedom is closer to freedom than if nothing happened. Syrian government...

XXL magazine Editor in Chief Vanessa Satten being held responsible for allowing a video of Rapper Too Short "schooling" young boys on how to turn a girl out, has earned just scrutiny in the public eye. However, what is more disturbing to me is that I have not...

Attention Activists: Human Rights is not an occupation. Human Rights is not a project; not a trend, fad or fascination. Human Rights is a lifestyle choice. More and more I hear about, read about, experience and vicariously experience the tension that erupts when a Human Rights impostor is exposed. The...

If I were to ask you to make a list of words to describe what you understand about human rights, I am going to guess that a majority of you would not have the word "tangible" on the descriptive list. Actually, neither would I, not until a few years ago....