Category Archives: Progress

Midterm evaluations bring a host of institutional measures to reach out to underachieving students. However, what might make the most difference to students success in their courses is to enable them to assess their own performance and set goals as well as to ask questions of and provide feedback to the instructor. Instructors can give students this reflective opportunity through an online journal assignment in which students do the following:

It is best to implement this progress report assignment about a third of the way through a course so that underperforming students can change trajectory before the midterm.

My experience with the assignmentSince I make all grades available on our universitys learning management system, students can always see their grades, but they often dont check or acknowledge that these grades are available. Further, because not all professors provide grades automatically, students may not fully understand their progress even when grades are available.

Students take anywhere from 50 to 400 words to complete this journal assignment, based on their needs. Their posts range from brief conclusions that they are exactly where they want to be to detailed descriptions of all kinds of problems and questions about how to move forward. This process allows me to respond quickly to the positive reports (Sounds great! Looking forward to the rest of the semester!) and to dedicate more attention to those who are struggling. This journal assignment is not graded, but students are required to complete it before submitting any subsequent assignments.

Although I am always open to student feedback, students often interpret this assignment as their first opportunity to reflect on the course and ask questions. Some will provide context for their content knowledge and other school responsibilities, which is often very enlightening for me. Students generally express gratitude at the official opportunity to assess their progress in the course (even more so when they are doing poorly or not as well as they expected) because it is early enough in the semester to turn things around.

Even in the case of students who are negative and critical, the assignment provides an opportunity for me to show empathy and clear up any misunderstandings they may have about course procedures and requirements. Thats a much-preferred alternative to letting their discontent silently fester and then show up on end-of-semester evaluations. In some cases, it also uncovers opportunities to improve the course and correct mistakes. Colleagues from my discipline and others have received the same positive results I have and continue to use this assignment semester after semester.

Tips for getting startedHeres what you need to know before you implement the progress report assignment in your courses.

This small activity can have a big impact on students and on your teaching. It also builds strong rapport at critical points early in the semester.

Christina Moore is a special instructor of writing and rhetoric at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She also works in OUs Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

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Assignment Helps Students Assess Their Progress - Faculty Focus (blog)

The Way It Is

At first glance, the mission seemed simple enough. There was an easily identifiable economic agenda laid out by the most pro-business president in a generation. His party had control over both of the nation's legislative bodies. Not only that, but his party also had the support on the local level of the vast majority of the nation. Things would surely get done now.

Well, things are certainly moving, but as far as the defined agenda goes, is it fast enough? Kind of, sort of ... in some cases. Both the president's bombastic style, and the partisan nature of Washington itself will be distractions that you, the trader, must learn to work around. This, my colleagues, is just the way it is.

Reason to Love

Speaking of progress, that is exactly what we saw on the deregulatory front this past Friday. The president signed an Executive Order (as if you didn't know) that really gets the ball rolling toward gutting Dodd-Frank. Relaxing this law could unleash a wave of increased dividends, and share buybacks across the financial sector. Bang! bank stocks took off for the day. Not to mention, capital markets and consumer finance names that also moved in lock-step with the KBW Bank Index.

According to an RBC Capital Markets graphic posted last night by the Wall Street Journal, Citigroup (C) , JP Morgan (JPM) , Wells Fargo (WFC) , Bank of America (BAC) , Goldman Sachs (GS) , and Morgan Stanley (MS) all have between $10 billion and $28 billion worth of estimated excess (trapped) capital. For me, this prospect for deregulation is as much of a reason for holding on to bank stocks as is the prospect for higher interest rates.

That prospect for a higher fed funds rate really did not change all that much after the release of January jobs data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The headline print for job creation was undeniably strong, yet came with nasty revisions going back two months that nearly wiped out the entire measure of that statistical beat. On top of that, the number of persons working part-time for economic reasons actually grew by more individuals than did that headline number.

Then, there's wage growth, or rather the lack thereof. How disappointing is that 0.1% m/m wage growth that came in a month when 19 of the 50 states implemented mandatory increases in their state minimum wages? The next rate hike remains priced in for the June meeting as it was prior to Friday. The odds of an increase in March remain very low, at 13%.

Reason to Watch

Healthcare stocks have underperformed the general marketplace since the end of summer. I have avoided the space myself for some time now, as the entire sector had become an apparent political football. Regardless of who had won the presidential election, something would have had to have been done in the space, as the ACA had become unaffordable, and the quality of coverage withered for those forced to buy in.

Now, the president indicates that replacing the ACA could take all year, and possibly not until next year. So, what seemed like the new administration's "job one" moves toward the end of the line. I do get it. If health care reform were an easy puzzle to solve, it simply would not still be the controversial issue that it is. For the marketplace, our issue is: What does this mean for stocks in the space?

As I have always been gun-shy when it comes to biotech, and I think it likely that big pharma will remain under intense scrutiny, (especially if repealing, and/or replacing the national law takes longer than expected), then I think that for anything other short-term technical trading, I remain on the outside looking in for these stocks.

Macro

10:00 -- Labor Market Conditions Index (January): Expecting 1.0, December -0.3. This particular item will not move the marketplace upon release. I do, however, find it very interesting. For those not exactly sure what we are talking about here, this is a still-experimental tool that was first released in October of 2014. Just what is it? This item is a broad index of 19 (already released) labor market-related sub-components that the Federal Reserve Bank uses to track overall labor market progress. You may or may not be surprised to learn that this index has illustrated a labor market that has been in overall contraction for eight of the first eleven months of 2016. Expansion is expected for December, but this should be a close call, given that strong headline number for job creation that contrasted with a bevy of sloppy underlying numbers.

16:30 - Fed Speaker: Philadelphia Fed Pres. Patrick Harker is set to speak from San Diego, California. This will be the second public appearance by a sitting member of the FOMC since last week's policy decision. Chicago Fed Pres. Charles Evans was predictably dovish Friday morning. It will be interesting to get Harker's (Harker is seen as somewhat hawkish) take on the jobs data. Harker has also been a proponent of reducing the Fed's principal reinvestment program as a way of tightening policy once the fed funds rate hits 1%. This is something that I can get on board with, though I would like to see this as the next step (prior to further rate increases) if policy direction were to retain its current implied trajectory.

Sarge's Trading Levels

These are my levels to watch today for where I think that the S&P 500, and the Russell 2000 might either pause or turn.

SPX: 2323, 2312, 2299, 2293, 2282, 2272 RUT: 1394, 1388, 1383, 1375, 1371, 1364

Monday's Earnings Highlights (Consensus EPS Expectations)

Before the Open: (DO) ($0.11), (HAS) ($1.29), (L) ($0.63), (NWL) ($0.80), (SYY) ($0.54), (TSN) ($1.25)

After the Close: (FMC) ($0.88), (TSO) ($0.47)

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Market Recon: There's Progress on the Deregulation Front - TheStreet.com

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Audi, new champion of womens equity at work, has no women on their board, editor Judd Legum wrote on Twitter:

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No women sit on Audis Management Board, but its 14-person team of American executives includes two women.

Legum was not alone in his criticism of the ad; 25 percent of the comments on the ad across social media were negative, Business Insider reports.

The ad begins with a father watching his daughter in a race, asking himself, What do I tell my daughter?

Do I tell her that her grandpa is worth more than her grandma? That her dad is worth more than her mom? the narrator asks.

The father wonders how he can tell his daughter that despite her education, her drive, her skills, her intelligence, she still runs the risk of being valued less than every man she ever meets.

At the end, his daughter wins the race, and she and her father walk to an Audi right before the slogan progress is for everyone flashes across the screen.

The company decided to make a statement about gender pay equality on Twitter by saying, At Audi, we are committed to equal pay for equal work.

Despite what Audi claims in the ad, the gender pay gap is not wide.

According to the Daily Beast, the 23-cent gender pay gap is merely the difference between the average earnings of all men and women working fulltime.

The statistic does not take into account factors such asdifferences in occupations, positions, education, job tenure, or hours worked per week.

Once those factors are included, the wage gap is only a five-cent difference, and no one knows whether the cause is discrimination or some other hard-to-measure difference between the genders.

Continue reading here:

Think Progress Editor Mocks Audi for Equal Pay Super Bowl Ad - Breitbart News

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The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without forwards Carl Hagelin and Evgeni Malkin tomorrow at home to Calgary.

Head coach Mike Sullivan said today that Hagelin has been diagnosed with a concussion after being forced to leave Saturdays victory over St. Louis. The 28-year-old winger was well enough to skate by himself this morning, so it seems unlikely that hell be out for too long. Hagelin was reportedly injured after taking a hit to the headfrom Blues forward Alex Steen.

Malkin has not played since Jan. 24 due to a lower-body injury, but he too shouldnt be out for much longer.

Geno will not play tomorrow, said Sullivan. He was in a non-contact jersey today, but we are very encouraged with his progress.

Tomorrow will be the fifth straight game that Malkin has missed. The Penguins have gone 3-1-0 without him.

The Pens are also missing forward Conor Sheary, and they will for a while longer.Sheary is on IR with an upper-body injury.

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The Arizona Coyotes said it would be different this time. They said their ownership group was comprised ofpeople that can get this done.

And yet,who was surprised to hear Friday that the teamsplans to build a new arena in Tempe were dead?

The answer is, nobody was surprised. Friday was just the latest setback on a long list. Once again, there is no plan for a new arena to replace the one in Glendale, and the Coyotes have made it crystal clear thatthey arent staying in Glendale.

Unfortunately, it appears the ASU deal will not being moving forward, said Coyotes president and CEO Anthony LeBlanc. We will continue to explore other options that will ensure a successful future for the team and our fans. Were a determined bunch on the ice and off the ice. We intend to do everything we can to keep NHL hockey here in Arizona.

Perhaps the Coyotes will now pursue an arena in Scottsdale. Maybe theyll see about sharing one with the Suns in downtown Phoenix. There are reportedly other options.

But according to TSNs Darren Dreger, the Coyotes were shocked that ASU backed out. And thats not a good look for ownership.

Its not a good look for the NHL either. This drama has been going on for years now. One day, the situation in the desert looks dire. The next, a plan comes together and theres great optimism. The next, the plan falls apart and its back to dire.

Regarding possible relocation, there is still no hard-and-fast arena plan in Seattle. That being said, there is a concerted push, with some big names attached, to get one built. The NHL has made no secret that the Pacific Northwest is on their radar. Theres an arena inPortland, Oregon, which could be an option as well.

As for Quebec City, it is unlikely that the NHL would want the Coyotes to move there, as that would only worsen the leagues geographic imbalance.

But the NHL cannot allow this situation to exist for much longer. It is beyond embarrassing now. Just recall what the commissioner, Gary Bettman, said after the now-dead Tempe deal was announced in November.

I think first and foremost itll stop all the speculation as to what may or may not happen to the franchise, Bettman said.

Nope!

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Its been total silence from Ken Hitchcock since he was fired as Blues head coach last week but on Monday, Hitchcock finally spoke.

Well, sort of.

Though hes turned out repeated interview requests from the Post-Dispatch, Hitchcock did release a statement to the paper. Here it is, in full:

When I reflect on my time in St. Louis, I remember it as some of the best years of my career. I would like to thank Tom Stillman and the entire ownership group, Doug (Armstrong) and the rest of the Blues management for giving me the opportunity to be part of such a storied franchise.

I am very proud of our record on the ice over my time in St. Louis and would like to thank all of the coaches that I have had the pleasure of sharing the bench with: Gary Agnew, Ray Bennett, Danny Brooks, Jim Corsi, Sean Ferrell, Corey Hirsch, Scott Masters, Scott Mellanby, Kirk Muller, Brad Shaw, Steve Thomas and Rick Wilson and the Blues equipment and medical staffs for all of their support during my tenure. Without their hard work and dedication, we could not have had the success we achieved. A special thanks and good luck also goes to Mike Yeo. Mike was a true professional and an incredible source of knowledge and support as an associate coach. The Blues are in good and capable hands going forward with Mike.

I was very fortunate to coach many wonderful players during my tenure and I truly appreciate your dedication over the years as we tried to make our goal a reality. I have made some special friends with many of you and I know our paths will cross again soon.

I also want to recognize the front office staff in St. Louis. Their commitment and passion for connecting the team with the community is inspiring and did not go unnoticed. They continue to play an important role in keeping the organization moving in a positive direction.

Finally, to the St. Louis Blues fans, I want to thank you for your unwavering support. I have received countless notes of appreciation over the last few days and it truly means the world to me. St. Louis is an amazing sports town with some of the most knowledgeable fans in the world. I am eternally grateful to have been part of the Blues organization and to have made St. Louis my home over the last six years. The friendships Ive developed and the memories I have made here will last me a lifetime.

Its a nice gesture from Hitch who, as Armstrong put it, paid the price for all our failures, including mine. One gets the sense this was a heartbreaking conclusion to his time in St. Louis, something made evident by Armstrong choking back tears in announcing the dismissal.

Related: The challenge for Yeo? Make better use of Blues speed

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If Melker Karlsson and Joonas Donskoi have shown anything, its that San Jose GM Doug Wilson knows how to find NHL talent in Europe.

Now, well see if that applies to Marcus Sorensen.

Sorensen, the speedy 24-year-old forward signed out of the Swedish League last summer, has been recalled by San Jose and could make his NHL debut tomorrow when the Sharks take on the Sabres.

Sorensens recall comes after he scored 13 goals and 27 points in 39 games for the AHL Barracuda, in what is his first professional season in North America.

Previously, the former Ottawa draftee (fourth round, 2010) had spent the better part of his career with SHL outfit Djurgardens IF.

As mentioned above, Wilson and the Sharks are hopeful Sorensen can follow in the footsteps of Karlsson and Donskoi. The former was signed out of Sweden in 2014 age the age of 23 and the undrafted forward spent a short time in the AHL before transitioning to the Sharks that same year.

Karlsson has since become a lineup fixture for the Sharks, and has six goals and 13 points through 46 games this year.

Donskoi, a former Florida draftee, signed with San Jose in 2015 after capturing Finnish League MVP honors. Like Karlsson, he was 23 at the time of singing and, like Karlsson, wasted little time making an impact in San Jose. Donskoi jumped straight to the NHL and had a solid rookie campaign, with 11 goals and 36 points in 72 games.

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Kenny Agostino could not ask for a better chance to prove he can produce in the NHL.

Tonight in Philadelphia, the 24-year-old winger will take Robby Fabbris spot in the St. Louis Blues lineup. Fabbri, of course, isdone for the season with an ACL injury.

Agostino has been a prolific scorer in the AHL. This season, he leads the league with 60 points (18G, 42A) in 48 games for the Chicago Wolves.

Against the Flyers, hes expected to skate on a line with Jori Lehtera and David Perron.

(Agostino) has been having a great deal of success down there and I want him to come up and show us what he can do, said Blues head coach Mike Yeo, per NHL.com. I dont want him thinking about too much or worried one mistake will take him out of the lineup. I want to see what he can bring us and well give him a good chance tonight.

It will be Agostinos first real game with the Blues. Signed as a free agent this past summer, he had a five-point game in the preseason, but it wasnt enough to make the opening-night roster under coach Ken Hitchcock.

Agostino has one goal and one assist in 10 career NHL games, all with the Calgary Flames.

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Penguins injuries: Hagelin has concussion; Malkin still out, but making progress - NBCSports.com

After visiting Jordan and Lebanon, Priti Patel welcomed progress for Syrian refugees but warned that more intrenational help was needed.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel today warned that international efforts must be redoubled if the much needed humanitarian pledges made at last years London Syria Conference are to be delivered. Her call came as the UK published the latest data tracking the progress of all major donors against their promises. Following a 2 day visit to Lebanon and Jordan, Ms Patel welcomed the progress made in getting children into school and Syrian refugees into work the focus of the 2016 Conference.

That includes new training and job opportunities for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees and more than 75,000 children enrolled in schools in Lebanon and Jordan. New funding has also significantly exceeded the $6 billion total promised for 2016 at the Syria Conference, with $8 billion allocated last year. International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:

This time last year, the world came together in the face of a relentlessly brutal conflict and agreed to actions that would give hope to Syrian refugees. Alongside the life-saving emergency support UK aid provides we have prioritised opportunities for refugees to work and ensure a generation of Syria children were not denied an education.

I have seen for myself in Lebanon and Jordan how that approach is working. UK aid is saving and transforming lives while giving refugees a reason to remain close to home rather than risking their lives in the crossing to Europe.

But the job is only half done. It is now critical that donors deliver on their long-term funding pledges. The protracted crisis in Syria is the defining humanitarian challenge of our time and history will judge us if the international community does not deliver on the support Syrian refugees and the region needs.

The International Development Secretary made clear that donors and host countries must significantly step up their efforts in 2017 to deliver on promises to create more than one million jobs and to ensure every child affected by the Syria crisis has the chance of an education. She has called for:

donors to deliver predictable, multi-year funding so host countries can plan their long term response that means ensuring the 2017 UN appeals are funded, but also providing new loans to support jobs and growth in the region

governments in the region to work with key international financial institutions and UN agencies to develop a credible pipeline of job-creating projects

host countries to complete the reform of their economies to support business creation, remove remaining legislative restrictions on work, and attract investment

donors, NGOs and education providers to work with regional governments to improve the quality of education through support to teacher training, school management and standards

more support to non-formal education, so children who have been out of school can catch up quickly before joining formal school

the international community and host countries to jointly tackle barriers that are stopping children attending school, including child labour and adolescent marriage.

The Syria Conference was held in London on February 4th 2016 and co-hosted by the UK. Over the last year, the UK has pushed other donors to keep pace in responding to the crisis and to deliver on their promises. That includes the publication today of the second edition of the Pledge Tracker Report, produced by the UK and designed to hold donors to account for the financial promises they made at the Syria Conference.

Although the report shows that total funding pledges made at the Syria Conference have been exceed, it also highlights that more than a fifth of donors have either not delivered on their promises or are spending the money but not reporting back in a co-ordinated way. The Pledge Tracker Report is intended to highlight such failings and bring pressure on non-compliant donors to address them.

Along with new funding exceeding the $6 billion pledged, other key results in the 12 months since the Syria Conference took place on 4 February 2016 include:

work permits issued to 37,000 Syrians in Jordan, nearly a tenfold increase in the last year

an innovative pilot programme with SMEs in Lebanon to deliver jobs for refugees and the poorest Lebanese

a UK-supported trade deal that will allow Jordanian exporters easier access to the EU market

more than 75,000 children enrolled in schools in Jordan and Lebanon in 2016, as well as teacher training and an increase in school places

more than half a million children inside Syria receiving formal primary or secondary education thanks to UK support

loans and grants to help set up Special Economic Zones and provide refugees with training and job opportunities in Jordan.

Notes to editors

The new figures set out in todays report show that both the UKs own pledge of 510 million as well as the total $6 billion promised by the international community as a whole for 2016 have been exceeded. The UK has spent 550 million and Conference donors have now allocated $8 billion, $6.2 billion of which has already been spent. The report can be seen on the London Conference website.

The London Conference on Syria and the region took place on 4 February 2016 and was co-hosted by the UK, along with Germany, Kuwait, Norway and the United Nations. It brought together more than 60 countries and organisations, including 33 heads of state and Governments. In excess of $12 billion was pledged by the international community more than has ever been committed for a humanitarian crisis in a single day.

Historic Compact agreements with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan aimed to create at least 1.1 million jobs so that refugees have a livelihood closer to home, as well as creating jobs for local people and fuelling economic growth in the region. Refugee hosting countries agreed to ensure that no child missed out on the chance of an education as a result of the conflict, including a pledge to deliver education to all refugee and host community children in countries neighbouring Syria.

The UN has launched an $8 billion appeal to meet humanitarian needs inside Syria and across the region in 2017, highlighting that the conflict in Syria remains one of the worlds biggest humanitarian crises. It is vital that all donors not only fully deliver on their pledges to date, but step up with the new funding needed for 2017.

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Patel: Syria progress at risk without new push in 2017 - ReliefWeb

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS) today announced that ProgressNEXT, its premier event for Progress partners, will be held in Orlando, FL February 8-11, 2017. Attendees will hear directly from Progress executives, solution experts, industry innovators and partners benefiting from Progress offerings and will learn best practices for building the business applications of tomorrow.

In todays competitive technology market, its more important than ever to provide channel partners with exceptional value, innovation and access to expertise that position them for long-term success. We take great pride in the fact that thousands of customers and partners rely on our solutions to build mission-critical applications, said Kimberly King, Vice President, Global Partners and Channels, Progress. Our vision and focus on enterprise business application development is core to our future - our goal for the conference is to share our vision and collaborate with our partners on how together we can deliver the most compelling and valuable solutions for the market.

Event sponsors include ConnectPlaza, DataPA, ISCORP, Raybiztech, Servoy and Kingslake.

For more information about ProgressNEXT, please visit: https://www.progress.com/partners/next.

Additional Resources

About Progress Progress(NASDAQ: PRGS) is a global leaderin application development, empowering enterprises to build mission-critical business applications to succeed in an evolving business environment.With offerings spanning web, mobile and data for on-premise and cloud environments, Progress powers businesses worldwide, promoting success one application at a time. Learn aboutProgress atwww.progress.com or 1-781-280-4000.

Progress is a trademark or registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the US and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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Progress Announces ProgressNEXT 2017 Partner Conference - Business Wire (press release)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Learnmore...

Now Available - 2015 Mathematics in Puerto Rico Take a look atthe results of the 2015 Spanish-language NAEP mathematics assessment administered to public school students in Puerto Rico. Learn more ...

Story Map of NAEP data on MapED 2015 NAEP data has been added to MapED - a dynamic data mapping tool that provides geographic context to NCES, Census and other education demographic datasets. Learn more ...

Now Available - 2016 DBA Tutorial VideosThe 2016 Digitally Based Assessment (DBA) interactive tutorial videos are designed to teach students about the system and the tools they use to take the NAEP assessments.Learn more ...

Check out our blogNAEP Plus! We invite you to engage in conversations with us as we examine NAEP results more deeply, share developments in our assessments, and keep you up-to-date on our activities. Learn more ...

May 17, 2016: The Nation's Report Card: 2014 Technology and Engineering Literacy Assessment

April 27, 2016: The Nation's Report Card: 2015 Mathematics and Reading at Grade 12

NAEP Results on Your Mobile Device! Now available for download through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Be sure to download the latest report: 2013 Mathematics and Reading. Learnmore...

Share NAEP by Social Media and Email! Want to share NAEP content, news, or data on Facebook, Twitter, or by email? Now you can by using the social media icons located in the top right corner of each page.

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National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

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As bipartisan momentum around criminal justice reform continues to grow in Congress and across the United States, policymakers must include disability as a critical component of reform. Read more

By Rebecca Vallas | Monday, July 18, 2016

At each stage of our national development, the federal government has made major investments in infrastructure to accommodate future population growth and facilitate economic prosperity. The time has come once again to make sustained investments across sectors to ensure the United States is poised to thrive in the 21st century.

By Kevin DeGood, Christian E. Weller, Andrew Schwartz | Thursday, July 14, 2016

State policymakers are debating net energy metering in the context of electricity rates, the growing solar market, and reducing carbon emissions.

By Luke Bassett | Thursday, July 14, 2016

Practical policy reformsnot just more conversationare needed to address the recent violence between police and the African American community.

by Sam Fulwood III | Thursday, July 14, 2016

Issue Brief For Turkey and Iran to move away from their destructive regional confrontation and toward stability, they need to return to their previous policy of selective cooperation, compartmentalization, and mediation.

by Blent Aras and Emirhan Yorulmazlar | Monday, July 11, 2016

Issue Brief By taking steps to strengthen their unemployment insurance programs, states can better protect working families against joblessness, increase workforce participation, and prepare their economies to face the next recession.

by Rachel West, Indivar Dutta-Gupta, Kali Grant, Melissa Boteach, Claire McKenna, Judy Conti | Thursday, July 7, 2016

Originally posted here:

Center for American Progress

I couldnt leave the house yesterday.

Thats really hard to admit. Im a Warrior Mom Ambassador. I run the Facebook group for our Warrior Mom Conference attendees. I lead a support group. I help coach women through pregnancies after a PMAD. I am the strong one, the one you count on, the one with the resources and the answers and the shoulder to cry on.

Im also a black woman, mother to a black son, daughter to a black father, sister, friend, cousin, aunt. I grew up hearing stories of my father registering people to vote across the South. They were stories of terror in broad daylight and nights spent driving with no headlights on. I grew up on the narrative that my parents, and their parents, and everyone who made me possible had paid a debt so that I could be free, so that I could be safe in this country.

Last year I was followed and harassed by a police officer here in my home town. I was pregnant with my second child at the time and had just made it to what I considered my new normal after battling postpartum depression and anxiety. I didnt know then that I also had PTSD. All I knew was that I was vomiting, sobbing, and shaking in a parking lot and praising the lord that I was alive.

My daughter is eight months old. Ive been so lucky to not experience any major relapses in my postpartum depression or anxiety and to have my PTSD under control. I see a therapist every week. I take my medication every day. I practice self-care and I reach out for help when I need it.

I have so many privileges: financial, educational, heterosexual, light skin, in a relationship with a white partner. And still. Ive spent the last two nights unable to sleep. First because I couldnt get the voice a four year old girl trying to comfort her mother out of my head. Then last night it really felt like the world was falling apart.

As I write this we still dont have details on the sniper(s) in Dallas. I know that one is dead and the others are in custody. The officers who killed Alton Sterling and Philando Castile are both on paid administrative leave. They havent been arrested. I have no reason to believe there will be any arrests, convictions, or any type of punishment at all for the deaths of those men. Or for the murders of scores of boys and girls, men and women of color before them. Or for me if an officer decides to take my tone of voice, my reaching for my license, my skin color as a threat.

When I say #BlackLivesMatter, it is in desperation and defiance. I say it because I see no evidence that it is believed to be true in this country. I say it because after everything my father went through, after everything his father, and his, and his went through so that I could live free I still dont feel safe.

I know that I am more fragile than I seem from the outside. We all know that you cant see postpartum depression or anxiety. You cant see PTSD. When the panic attacks came at the thought of leaving the house and taking my son to camp, I had a choice to make. I chose to be honest with my partner about how I was feeling. I chose to reach out to my therapist and let her know I was not okay. I chose to keep my kids home with me, where I feel safe. We watched Disney movies and played with the baby, and dumped way too much bubble bath into the tub. I jumped at every sound and shook when sirens passed my house. I touched base with my relatives and made sure that I knew they were all safe. I tried my best not to get sucked into debates online.

This morning I left the house. I drove my son to camp. When I got home I fell apart. Then I put myself back together and sat down to start work.

I want to be the strong one. The one with the answers, and the resources and the shoulder to cry on. I want to be an ambassador, and a moderator, and a coach. I want to be the strong black woman that I am expected to be.

But Im not. Im scared. Im scared that I will never feel free. Im scared that someone I love will be the next hashtag. Im scared that I will be the next hashtag. Im scared that I will forever be shouting #BlackLivesMatter into the world and it will never, ever be true.

At Postpartum Progress, we believe Black Lives Matter. While not all readers will initially understand the importance of this movement or statement, we believe it matters to say this out loud and up front. We care deeply and equally for every mom suffering from a PMAD. In light of the traumatic events of this week, we are especially worried and grieved for women of color with PMADs and women mothering children of color. We stand in solidarity with you.

We are committed to caring for the most vulnerable members of our PMAD community because we believe the improved well-being of those who suffer most due to systemic racism is the improved well-being of us all.

Were a community. When one suffers, we all suffer. Were in this together. We stand with our moms of color and mothers of Black children.

We understand the unique issues our mothers of color and those parenting children of color experience while battling maternal mental illnesses. The heightened worry about your childs future combined with issues of access to care by clinicians who look like you and understand the complexities of mothering while Black make your recovery different and difficult. We understand and support your desire to speak up, to go into quiet grieving, or to do what you need to do at this time. We just want you to be safe, no matter what that entails.

We are thinking of all the pregnant and new moms who are fighting postpartum depression and anxiety while also living with the acculturative stress and trauma of this week and want to remind you that you are worthy of love, respect, wellness, and safety. We want you to know that we are here to provide support and connect you to help, and that we stand with you and by you. You can email help@postpartumprogress.org or send a Private Message to our Facebook page.

We see you. We hear you. Our hearts break for and with yours as you navigate the news as it unfolds. Were holding space for you in our hearts.

Sincerely, Postpartum Progress Staff

[Editors Note: Todays guest post comes from a Warrior Mom who experienced Postpartum OCD. She shares her journey with intrusive thoughts so that other moms might feel less aloneand also so others will understand that side of OCD. Some thoughts might feel triggering for moms in vulnerable places, so please only read if you are feeling safe today. -Jenna]

Ive found that no one really understands what OCD is in general. I hear a lot of things.

Oh, so you wash your hands a lot. Oh, you check the locks and stuff. Oh, I used to clean the house all the time, too, but I got over that.

Do people who suffer from OCD just wash their hands, check the locks, clean? NO. They perform rituals and compulsions like these far more often than the non-sufferer, and theres always a thought behind itusually an unpleasant onefueling what they do. Think: Im sure my mom will die if I dont wash my hands exactly seven times every hour in the same exact order.

Whats more is people really dont know about Pure O OCD and the intrusive thoughts that plague us. Its impossible to explain to someone who doesnt have it or get them.

Ill be honest: It sounds ridiculous to even try and say it out loud to someone. Throw in the fact that theres no visualcracked bleeding hands arent evident, someone you can see counting the times they touched the lock to make sure it is in fact really lockedand you have one big misunderstanding of this special kind of torture.

When I try to explain to a non-sufferer, Ive been told but thats just a thought, you wont do that, or the opposite, oh God, so you were like one of those women who wanted to hurt their kid. So I thought a post about thoughts that were constantly going through my mind when I suffered from Postpartum OCD might shed some insight.

When I say constantly, there is no exaggeration. I had intrusive thoughts and thoughts surrounding them every waking minute. I had them while I was knee deep in reports for work that required concentration. I had them while I was having full blown conversations with someone else. I never not had them.

On a good day I had a 10-15 second break in between.

Its amazing how you can be having a running horror movie in your head at any given time and no one knew or understood how, since you looked and acted so normal. Its much easier to talk about the latest episode of Greys Anatomy than say, Sorry my eating my apple is so loud. I couldnt cut it up this morning before I came because I was at home alone with the baby and what if

Who I was wasnt normal around was my husband. He received the full force of my confessing of the intrusive thoughts and reassurance seeking that I was not crazy or going to act on my thoughts, because as a person with OCD, you think, why else would you have them, right?

So heres a blip of a very typical night in the mind of my PPOCD experience.

Its 4:30, 4:30, 4:30. Thats only 15 more minutes until hes home. 15 minutes. Thats not too long. You can do this. You are fine. 15 minutes.

Thats enough time to hurt him. Oh God what if I hurt him.

Who thinks that? Whats wrong with me? What if he comes home and hes dead? Why would he be dead?

Dont be ridiculous. Youre fine. This is just OCD. You are not your thoughts.

Only 14 minutes. Just start dinner. Just start dinner. Man, it was easier to get dinner ready without a baby around.

Does that mean I dont want him? Does that mean I want to get rid of him? I know how people do that.

Oh God, Im going to be one of those people on the news.

Stop it. Just stop it. This is only OCD. Of course, it was easier without kids.

Thats the truth. Your therapist told you to look at the truth. Why isnt that calming me down? I KNOW thats the truth but I dont believe it. Only 13 minutes. Ill ask him when he gets here if he thought it was easier without a baby too.

He promised to tell me if I scared him with what I said. What if Im just good at acting like I have OCD and Im really a monster.

Stop it. Thats your OCD talking. Remember what your therapist said.

Only 12 minutes.

What can I make without a knife? I know its in the dishwasher. What if I grab it and

STOP picturing it. STOP.STOP STOP.

Noodles. I can make noodles. If hes in the other room, I wont hurt him.

Is he really in the other room. Yes, you see him damn it. Just stir your stupid noodles. Stir. Stirring. Stirrrriiiiing. Keep singing that like a song. If you sing it out loud, it will curb your thoughts.

Shit. Its not working. Wait, is he still in the other room?

YES, hes home. 4.3.2.1.

I swear I put him in the other room while I was cooking so hes okay. I didnt really want to hurt him. But I dont know, maybe I did. Why else would I put him so far away? I also opened the dishwasher just to check but I didnt touch the knife I swear. I thought it was easier without him but that doesnt mean I dont want him right? Does that mean I want to get rid of him? What if he went missing and no one looked for him because they know Im seeing a therapist. What if he really was taken and ended up really dying because they never looked for him. How would I explain this to the police? They dont know what OCD is. Maybe my doctors would tell them. What if they really do think Im crazy and havent told me yet? Oh Jesus, do YOU think Im crazy!? Im so sorry you have to deal with me.

Um. No, youre not crazy. This is OCD. You know that. You know what your doctors have told you. Yes, it was easier without him. No that doesnt mean anything other than it was easier without him. I see were having noodles, again. Do you need me to unload the dishwasher tonight?

And this goes on. And on and on and on and on. All night.

I need you to cut up that watermelon. Actually I need you to take him in the other room while I do it because you can keep him safe from me.

I need you to give him a bath. But I can do the diaper first. Wait, what if I touch something accidentally when Im wiping him.

I need to work on my OCD workbook the therapist gave me, but what if someone sees what Im writing? They will take him from me. I know you said we can just burn it when Im done but that also gives me bad thoughts. Actually can we just use the oil furnace while youre not home? Just in case I flip my shit. I mean I know its OCD but still, what if its not?

No matter how many doctors told me the truth, that THIS WAS OCD and I WAS NOT MY THOUGHTS; no matter how many posts I read and Google searches I did; no matter how often I heard EVERYONE has random bizarre thoughts pop in to their head, they just go in one side and out the other not bothering them, its just us OCDers that get fixated on them; I had a very hard time accepting I was not a monster. I kept my distance from my son because the what ifs plagued me.

But after a long battle, I got help. I got medication that allowed me work on techniques to control my mind and to go from a run on sentence of thoughts to having them every 30 seconds.

Then every minute.

To eventually not even noticing/reacting to them like the normal person. I finally believed that this was OCD and that just because I wasnt familiar with what OCD really was before this blindsided me, didnt mean it wasnt true and my actual diagnosis.

So next time you say I was SO OCD this weekend and cleaned out my closet remember how lucky you are that cleaning out your closet was only a small chunk of your day with a perfectionist streaknot a horror movie with no commercial breaks in your mind that is OCD.

Chimamanda Adichie calls attention to the danger of a single story in her TED Talk.

Women of color find themselves lost and erased when the intersection of maternal mental health and minority maternal mental health is on the table because, among other things, the strong Black woman trope is at play. Stigma is very much the product of a single story.

Stigma is a mark of disgrace or negative judgment surrounding a certain circumstance. Stigma concerning mental illness isnt imagined. The controlling factor of stigma is shame.

Shame is a a statement that assumes that the judgment cast on a person is because the person is intrinsically flawed. Stigma and shame work together to keep folks struggling with mental illness believe they are bad and at fault for their suffering. This is especially true for women of color.

Bren Brown helped the general public by re-igniting the conversation around shame versus vulnerability. Brown asserted that becoming shame resistant means being vulnerable and authentic in our own stories.

While I tend to agree with Bren, I also understand that women of color take much greater risks in their attempts at engaging authenticity through sharing their most vulnerable life experiences. Black women are taught to be strong, that they dont have postpartum depression or any other mental illness, less they be perceived as a welfare queen or a trashy baby momma who had children she couldnt care for in the first place.

Generally speaking, people facing diagnosis of mental illness face significant difficulties around the stigmatization of being mental health conditions. When we factor in minority statues, especially multiple overlapping minority identities, the stigma becomes heavier and far more damaging. This is what it means when activists and experts reference that African American and Black women are at the greatest risk in the maternal mental health discussion.

Much of the stigma that many women of color experience is also built into tropes and archetypes that many women of color have internalized. For the sake of this discussion, we can evaluate the archetypes surrounding the Black female/femme experience that impact the stigma within maternal mental health. We can answer the question of why arent more Black women talking about their mental health issues by evaluating the stereotypes that confound the issue.

The projection of the strong Black woman is a roadblock to Black women obtaining care for mental illnesses like PPD. While empowering the culture of stigma around mental illness, the strong black woman isnt inclined to tell her story. * Openly suffering from mental illness is something that is highly tabooed in the cultural relations of Black women (Schreiber et al). Among researchers of Black womens experiences with depression, being strong repeatedly emerges as a key factor in their experiences (Beauboeuf-LaFontant, You have to Show Strength 35). Because of Black womens history of subjugation, often Black communities may possess the idea that due to their long history overcoming racism and discrimination, which attacked their mental states as inferior, Black women have the ability to muster through adversity (Hooks 70).

This trope is very unique to Black communities and should be taken into consideration anytime one wishes to provide support for Black women who may be suffering with mental illness. Black women are taught that we have inborn abilities to face struggle and hardship without showing wear mentally or physically.

While some of the initial construction of this image can be traced back to rejecting controlling images created by the white elite to oppress Black women (Hill Collins). The strong Black woman image is problematic because of its emphasis on caring for others and attaching the stigma of failure to any woman who exposes her mental health status attests that the Black woman is the mule of the world (Neale Hurston 1937).

So we find that it our work to simultaneously put to rest the strong Black woman myth by creating safe space for Black women to tell the stories of their mental health struggles.

For more posts in this series on Minority Mental Health:

References Beauboeuf-LaFontant, Tamara. You Have to Show Strength: An Exploration of Gender, Race, and Depression. Gender & Society 21.1 (2007): 28-51. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.

Hooks, Bell. Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery. Boston, MA: South End, 1993. Print.

Neale Hurston, Zora. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.

Schreiber, Rita, Phyllis Noerager Stern, and Charmaine Wilson. Being Strong: How Black West-Indian Canadian Women Manage Depression and Its Stigma. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 32.1 (2000): 39-45. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

Did you ever wonder if you were suffering from postpartum depression because a friend talked to you about their experience? Did you read a book that reflected your experiences? If you found a narrative that fit with your experience, did you have access to health care because you had a treatment team that believed you?

Often times women dealing with postpartum depression or anxiety will report their difficulties finding a diagnosis and/or helpful treatment and support. Everyone is still working hard to understand PPD and other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

As part of this conversation, though, there are two key words that are often overlooked: Exposure and access. These two words are important factors that impact the well-being of protected classes of people. Protected classes of people often have double the difficulty when dealing with maternal mental illness, because in order to obtain help, you have to be exposed to stories and informationthat reflect your experience, and then you need access to the processes that allow you to obtain help.

Postpartum depression is a serious, debilitating illness that affects approximately 10-20% of women. This statistic, though, is a measure of women who were able to identify what they were going through. Imagine the womenfor instance, women of colorwho arent added to this statistic because they dont have exposure and access to understand what they are suffering with?

A psychiatric study by Katy Backes Kozhimannil and her colleagues yielded results that concluded that:

there were significant racial-ethnic differences in depression-related mental health care after delivery.

These results outline a stark reality for women of color: They areless likely to be screened for PPD and less likely to get treatment and receive follow-up care. The results also showed that it was more likely for treatment teams to attribute symptoms of Black and Latin women to other ailments and not PPD.

To make it plain, while many women are never screened, women of color are bypassed in the screening process even more so, and when they do display symptoms of PPD, other factors are often blamed. So these moms wont get the help they really need. This reality means it is vital for women who are at risk for perinatal mood disorders to be strong self-advocates.

How, the question becomes, can one advocate for something that you havent been made aware of? If you have been exposed, how then does one self-create access in a system that either doesnt offer access to people who look like you or offers less-effective help or many fewer options?

Awareness for postpartum depression is increasing, yet there are still women who are falling through the cracks due to systemic oppression and racism. We must care for the most vulnerable among us. The postpartum depression conversation should involve early intervention, treatment, and awareness for ALL women.

The study I mentioned above also cited:

The differences in initiation and continuation of care uncovered in this study imply that a disproportionate number of black women and Latinas who suffer from postpartum depression do not receive needed services. These differences represent stark racial-ethnic disparities potentially related to outreach, detection, service provision, quality, and processes of postpartum mental health care. Although suboptimal detection and treatment rates are not uncommon for this condition or in this population (7,42,43), these results emphasize that postpartum depression remains an underrecognized [sic] and undertreated [sic] condition for all low-income women, especially for those from racial and ethnic minority groups.

During July, which is Minority Mental Health Month, Ill be having leading a conversation here at Postpartum Progress about ways to improve the conversation as it relates to women of color and postpartum depression. We will talk about stigma, social constraints, patient-provider communication, and involving more women of color in the change agency efforts.

Postpartum Progress means progress for ALL women, which means some difficult and important conversations. I hope youll join me.

[Founders Note: One of the goals at Postpartum Progress is to expand our reach and support so that all women are getting the information and help they need. As you all know, in general most women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are not getting the right help. It is also true, though, that women of color get even less access and have even fewer options than the general population. Ive been an advocate for more than a decade now and I know this to be true because I have seen it with my own eyes. Im thrilled that Jasmine is joining us to share her experience and knowledge so that we can open our eyes to what all types of women are experiencing and figure out what we can do better. -Katherine]

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