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Evaluating the Opportunities and Limitations of Social Enterprises in Addressing Period Poverty in Rural India
No full textSocial enterprises play a significant role in advancing social justice and global health by employing innovative strategies to address health disparities within underserved communities. Period poverty, defined as the lack of access to feminine hygiene products, represents a global health challenge. Social enterprises have emerged as a tool to combat this issue in several countries, including India, but face barriers in widespread implementation in rural areas. This study evaluates the opportunities and limitations social enterprises have in combating period poverty in rural India with a focus on Goonj, a New-Delhi based social enterprise dedicated to bridging the gaps of resources between urban and rural settings in India. Goonj has made recent strides in fighting period poverty, establishing itself as a social enterprise capable of enhancing women’s health in rural India through their production of recycled cloth sanitary napkins. Through an analysis of opportunities and limitations in social enterprises, this study highlights social entrepreneurship as a practical approach to minimize the occurrence of period poverty. However, social enterprises must be supported by policies and consistent stakeholders to ensure the legitimacy of their work. Developing smaller-scale, local operations that employ women within the community, raise awareness, provide menstrual education, and distribute health resources can be effective in combating the inaccessibility of feminine hygiene products. Improved access to women’s health products opens several doors for a woman’s education, social mobility, health, and economic opportunities, benefiting her community as a whole. Further research could explore the long-term impacts of social enterprises on menstrual equity, the access to menstrual products and safe menstruating environments, (Darivemula, S. et al., 2023) and deepen the analysis of the intersection between social entrepreneurship and period poverty as more organizations emerge and expand their operations
What are the key government and economic factors that influence the adaptation of Western human rights norms in China, India, and Turkey?
No full textI.Abstract The adaptation of global human rights norms poses a significant challenge in diverse political and cultural contexts. In China, India, and Turkey, government policies, economic priorities, and cultural dynamics uniquely shape how these norms are engaged. China’s centralized governance prioritizes economic stability and collective rights, often at the expense of individual freedoms. In India, a democratic values and constitutional protections align with Western ideals, but caste and gender inequalities persist as systemic barriers. Turkey’s dynamic approach, influenced by secularism, religious tensions, and EU aspirations, reveals the impact of both external pressures and domestic political shifts. These case studies illustrate that integrating human rights is deeply context-dependent, requiring alignment with each nation’s unique historical, political, and social realities. They also highlight the broader tension between universal ideals of equality and freedom and the practical challenges of implementing them in diverse settings
Sharon Kyle
No full textAbstract
Interviewer: Mark Naison, Stephanie Robinson-Ramirez, Shellae Versey
Interviewee: Sharon Kyle
Sharon Kyle’s philosophy for living is one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. This philosophy has made her a prominent figure in the critical news site LA Progressive, and guided her life journey from the Bronx to NASA and law school. Born in 1957, she grew up in the Edenwald projects, where she faced challenges like domestic violence and being surrounded by drug use. She was the sole advocate for her education, without any help or guidance from her parents regarding her intellectual path. However, her uncle, a makeup artist at the Metropolitan Opera, influenced her love for the arts. This exposure to different class structures and the respect she saw that her uncle garnered prompted her perseverance and also impacted the decisions she made. It allowed her to see that she would be able to transcend the boundaries placed by the race and class structure of the United States. Sharon shares this profound influence that her uncle, Leopold Allen had, who was a makeup artist and lived openly as a gay man during the AIDS epidemic.
Despite her parents\u27 lack of support for her education, she excelled academically and eventually worked at NASA. Even though she was forced to move to California, leaving her scholarship at NYU behind, she diligently tried to make something of herself to fuel her educational journey and a life of meaning and achievements. Kyle emphasizes the importance of resilience, self-sufficiency, and community in overcoming adversity, and highlights the critical role of the press in democracy. With this, she emphasizes the importance of the press in a functional democracy and the role of LA Progressive in providing critical news coverage and the truth. Her activism and desire to see social justice reflects the adversity she consistently overcomes, but also a message of hope and determination, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and community support. Furthermore, Kyle describes the challenges of redlining and white flight in Queens, leading to a predominantly black neighborhood. Having experienced this firsthand, her viewpoint and resilience to overcome these obstacles is prevalent in her advocacy for social justice. Sharon shares her involvement with critical race theory before the term was even created and her collaboration with Kimberly Crenshaw in bringing these topics into fruition that affect the country we live in today. As she entered the field of law, Kyle reveals how deeply race is embedded in our social justice system.
Sharon Kyle’s life story is a model for others, particularly young people. She allows us to see how we are able to overcome constraints placed upon us by race and class structures through hard work, determination, and one foot in front of the other. With her experience in the field of science, activism, and social justice, Kyle’s versatility reveals her resilience. Kyle’s work continues to build community and fight for change within our society and community
Denise Oliver Vélez - Part 1
No full textDescribing both the connection and discipline of the YLP, Oliver-Vélez remembers “detention” being held in the Bronx, where a member would read and recite their wrongs in writing before returning to Manhattan to pick up children for free breakfast programs, take them to school, pick up papers, and distribute them for the remainder of the day. She remembers this discipline and the art of the Palante newspaper (1970–76) as quintessential parts of most grassroots organizations of the time. Her commitment to the YLP was significant. Members lived collectively and created ingenious solutions to systemic medical, food scarcity, and education issues in the Bronx. But the YLP was different from many other collectives that sought to terminate these issues. As observed by Oliver-Vélez about many other humanitarian organizations, “intellectuals on the left are divorced from the communities they’re part of” ([1:35:40]). The YLP, however, was never reluctant to connect with the Bronx community, which helped to creatively combat problems like community reluctance around lead poisoning vaccines. Instead of employing discriminatory- oftentimes white- doctors, ex-heroin addicts from YPL’s drug rehabilitation team administered the shots, and had both greater accuracy with their application of the shots and better bedside manner.
Along with the triumphs of organizing came the turbulence of the YLP–especially a ferocious fight for feminism and queer integration during the group’s final years in the early 1970s (before the organization moved to Puerto Rico to continue its work). Misinformed machismo men of the YLP were put in their place by people like Oliver-Vélez, who had “always been encouraged to stand up…and argue” ([1:49:03]).
Explaining her experiences of colorism in youth and issues of feminism later in life, Oliver-Vélez presents her story showing undeniable wisdom. Her contributions to the YLP and (detailed in part two of this interview) the Black Panther Party are no surprise, considering the revolutionary histories of her family. Denise Oliver-Vélez is, unlike the issues she describes among organizers, an example of the perfect unison between community connection and inspired ideas which enable change. Her affable personality perfectly blends with her wise words, in both this interview and her life’s work.
LINK TO VIDEO INTERVIEW: http://cdm17265.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/baahp/id/9
Paul Pete Rosenblum
No full textPaul Pete Rosenblum grew up in the United Workers Cooperative Colony, or the Allerton Coops, in the 1930s and 1940s. In his oral history, Pete recalls what he can about the handful of African American families that lived in the complex during the 1930s as well as the shifting social ecology of the building as more African Americans moved in during the 1940s and beyond.
LINK TO VIDEO INTERVIEW: https://cdm17265.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/baahp/id/97/rec/6
Kujegi Camara
No full textSummary by Eliza Anderson.
Kujegi Camara is a lifelong Bronx resident and Assistant Director for Engagement and Operations at Fordham’s Center for Community Engaged Learning. She attended high school at Manhattan Center for Science and Math in East Harlem and received a bachelor\u27s degree from Princeton University.
Camara was born in 1994 to Gambian parents who immigrated to the Bronx in the late ‘80s. Growing up on 176th and Walton Avenue, Camara lived with her large extended family and would cook meals with her mother and aunts. The neighborhood had many Senegambian immigrants, and the Mount Hope Masjid that she attended had a predominantly West African congregation. She spoke Soninke at home with her family, at the masjid, and with her friends. Her father was in construction, and her mother was a stay-at-home mom.
Camara recalls enjoying her time in public school, but experienced teasing on the basis of her African heritage and language. She recounts a vulnerable instance in elementary school when a boy pulled off her hijab in the lunchroom. Camara also speaks about her memories of 9/11 and its aftermath, prompting questions of personal identity and conflict: “Can you be fully American, be fully Muslim, and then also be fully Gambian and fully African?” The masjid was a powerful space for Camara, as it was a place where she spent considerable time, where she felt she could be fully herself, and a place that “[she] could be very proud of.” It was at the masjid that she felt empowered in her community and her faith, and she began to teach younger children. She highlights how her cultural identities blended together and sometimes collided, recalling how many family members had objected to her going to dorm at Princeton. This experience led her to found the Smiling Coast Women Empowerment Network, with a goal to empower West African Muslim girls in their educational journeys.
She highlights the importance of the hijab as a sign of modesty before God, and reflects on how styles have changed across cultures and generations. On the question of what she hopes for the future of the Muslim community in the Bronx, she emphasizes her desire for Gambians to see themselves “in the fabric of what does it mean to be from the Bronx.” Being proud of her Bronx identity is central to how she navigates raising her three daughters in the Bronx
Naomi Pemberton
No full textAbstract
Interviewer: Mark Naison, Stephanie Robinson-Ramirez, Steven Payne
Interviewee: Naomi Pemberton
Naomi Pemberton, a healthcare executive and community leader in the Bronx, shares her experiences surrounding advocacy for her community and for its perpetual progression. For Pemberton, service work is a part of her identity, especially in regards to her incessant battle for her community. She plans to always remain in the Bronx with her family, signifying her love and determination to fight for the quality of life in her community, as well as the cultivation of its children. Pemberton stresses how we must use our voices to fight and promote change. Her multicultural background, being both Jamaican and Dominican, has influenced the way in which she interacts with her cultures, specifically in regards to food and music. She highlights the diverse cultural influences, particularly Hip-Hop and Caribbean music had on her upbringing. The way in which she shares the influence her cultures had on her shows how they symbiotically mesh, similarly to the community where she resides, where every other person shares her cultural heritage.
Naomi also shares her career path in healthcare, her community service efforts, and her involvement in local politics. Her involvement in the community started with her education at Truman High School and SUNY Binghamton. Her involvement in community organizations began at Truman, where she organized an event to ensure that her fellow students remained in school. At the time, the drop-out rates were detrimentally high. After graduation, Naomi pursued a Health Administration Master\u27s degree and worked at Lenox Hill Hospital, learning about quality healthcare. She later worked at New York Medical Group and Montefiore, gaining experience in healthcare administration. Through this work, she emphasizes the importance of community engagement and the need for better educational and social programs in the Bronx.
Pemberton has watched her neighborhood change over the years. From her perspective, the quality of life has changed, but with every issue, she has sparked some form of outreach. With that, her voice has become more prominent and distinguished, promoting initiatives that fight for the people of her community, but most importantly, its continuous reach for progress. She stresses the importance of committee meetings, but especially, how they are open for all of the public, encouraging us all to utilize our voices to stress our needs. Her major focus now in political and community activities revolve around children, the future of the community, as well as the quality of living. Through her work with the organization Grassroots in relation to food insecurity, as well as her not-for-profit, Pelham Gardens Neighborhood Association, Naomi Pemberton is a prime example of the powerful effect of community organizing. Most importantly, her work has maintained and fought for the quality of life of those in the Bronx. Just as she vows to remain with her family, her tenacity to improve the community in all aspects of life is truly influential
Theresa Land Latta
No full textBorn and raised in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx, Theresa felt a sense of community as a child and vividly remembers feeling the security of her block. Her southern household, family right across the street, and West Indian neighbors prompted a cultural exchange that encapsulated her youth through socialization, food, relationships, music, and expression. Attending a majority white elementary school, PS 76 was a time where she cherished her teachers, while starting to understand the discrimination and racial circumstances of our country. Olinville Junior High School was a time in which her character of excelling in school was tested when she asked one of her math teachers for help. He insisted that due to her race, it was “impossible” for her to be educated, diminishing her capabilities. It was a lesson through which she learned to advocate for herself. Though in fifth grade, her first interaction with an African American female teacher, Diana Canales–who is one of the charter members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority–prompted her future, pledging Delta in 2010. Now, Latta is the sixth president of The Bronx Chapter of this organization, maintaining its reputation as the family chapter.
Theresa Land Latta has been surrounded by activism her whole life. Her brother was a part of the Black Panther Party, with the FBI even coming to her house to question him about his involvement due to his young age. Both of Theresa’s parents participated in the March on Washington and were in the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), prompting the decisions she made as a young adult. She started her college career at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, making lifelong friends and meeting her husband, and finished at Lehman College. Post-college, she got married to her college best friend and had her daughter, which changed her life and has led her to her modern-day advocacy work. Due to wanting her daughter to form connections with people of the same background and balance her social life from the ostracization of majority white schools, she did extensive research and found Jack and Jill, a safe haven for children to socialize and understand their identity. Theresa is now heavily involved with this non-profit organization in the Bronx Chapter, helping it achieve five-star status today. As president of the Bronx Chapter, it is her goal to make Jack and Jill more visible in the Bronx, incorporating a Black History Month Celebration and team conference, of which her daughter is currently Vice President. Theresa is truly an emblematic figure of the Bronx enclave, especially in regards to her advocacy, activism, and community.
Link to Video Recording: https://cdm17265.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/baahp/id/67/rec/2
Michael “Mike” Sherman
No full textIn 2010, Sherman was introduced to KAP at a party held in Eastwood Manor in the Bronx. He enjoyed the feeling of giving back he got from them, and he was chartered into the fraternity in spring 2012. That same year, Sherman began working at a charter school, Harlem’s Children Zone, where he served as Assistant Dean and later as a Teaching Assistant.
In 2021, Sherman left Harlem’s Children Zone, wanting more control of his classroom, and founded his own charter school, Emblaze Academy, in Hunts Point. Sherman teaches because it fulfills him to be a pillar of support for other Black students who didn’t have a Black male teacher in their elementary years. His work at KAP would embetter his community with providing them tools to college, financial literacy, and with social events.
In his time with KAP, he organized community events including Halloween services, cleaning the Bronx River, book drives, voter registration drives, and financial literacy classes. In the future, he wants KAP’s mentoring program, The Right Guide, to be more widely implemented, since he believed it was underutilized. The program mentors young men in preparation for college. Mike Sherman is a man who\u27s involved in mentoring young men preparing for college, and teaching elementary school students in his community; he has always grown up in a strong community, and he wants to give back, either through his teaching or curating social events with KAP. His accomplishments include his position of Social Action Chair at KAP, the founding of Emblaze Academy, and his mentorship program, The Right Guide.
LINK TO VIDEO INTERVIEW: http://cdm17265.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/baahp/id/8