Proud Contributing Author in this Book!

“You wouldn’t show up to a final without studying, so don’t show up to an interview if your only preparation is re-reading the job description. If you’re trying to change jobs, how do you know the company you’re running to doesn’t have the same problems as the company you’re running from?” In this article I wrote for CareersInFood.com, we review the ultimate to-do list for interview prep.

Read…

"Two-page resumes are becoming more common in the food industry, but that doesn’t mean one should fill up that space with obvious skills. " In this article I wrote for CareersInFood.com, we discuss skills food scientists should think about including on their resumes.

“Two-page resumes are becoming more common in the food industry, but that doesn’t mean one should fill up that space with obvious skills. ” In this article I wrote for CareersInFood.com, we discuss skills food scientists should think about including on their resumes.

Read it here –> ♦Related Reading♦

Confessions of a Shady Supplement Supplier

SoCal IFT Q&A with GreenEyedGuide

Day in the Life…

GreenEyedGuide talks Kids Multivitamins on The Scientific Parent

We all know that “hiding” vegetables in recipes to get kids to eat more veggies doesn’t really work. So how do you make sure your picky eater is getting the nutrients they really need? I talk through the pros and cons of using kids multivitamins with Registered Dietitian Leah McGrath on The Scientific Parent. (read it here or click the excerpt below)

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How NOT to talk about Food Science - 4 Awful Strategies

Learn from my mistakes — Read “4 Awful Strategies for Talking to People About Food Science” on Science Meets Food.

And what GreenEyedGuide article would be complete without a reference to Harry Potter?

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Support the GreenEyedGuide on Patreon Visit the Energy Drink Guide Facebook page (sooo close to 100 Likes!) Follow the GreenEyedGuide on Twitter Follow…

Contributor if not Author - some of my work is actually in print.

There’s a saying, “Writers write, authors publish.” I’m not sure if it’s meant to chastise those of us who claim the “author” title improperly (by whose standard?) or to encourage us to move past a never-finished manuscript and into the final scary stages of publication.

Maybe contributors to published works fall in the middle somewhere. And despite the growing acceptance of self-publishing, I…

By featuring a snippet of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s influential TED Talk (“We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings, in the way that boys are…”) in her cult-favorite song Flawless***, Beyoncé highlights how women in contemporary society are scorned for personal expressions of sexuality. This message impacted me immensely; from a young age we are trained and taught that in order to be taken seriously, we must always dress conservatively. Female rape victims are blamed for their assaults because of they were wearing “short skirts” and dress codes in schools enforce girls to “cover up as to not distract the boys.” Thankfully I have never been the victim of such a horrific sexual assault and I personally have no regard for my own school’s dress code; however constraining society may be, I find dressing sexually to be intensely empowering.

American society is fixated on appearances. Although we don’t disgrace women for showing their ankles or their arms, as other cultures might, we do make judgments and assumptions about females based on the way they dress. Women who wear more scandalous clothing and even women who choose to dress orthodoxly do not escape America’s critical tongue. For instance, contrast Miley Cyrus and Hillary Clinton. Miley dons pasties and hot pants onstage and is branded a reckless wild child that threatens the morality of her young fans, while Hilary Clinton chooses to wear pantsuits. Hillary is an amazing politician and doesn’t want her abilities to be discredited for wearing something more feminine, yet through her decades on the political scene commenters have poked fun at her allegedly “dreary” dressing. Our society seems to be teaching in order to be leaders, we have to tone down our femininity… but not too much otherwise we are not attractive. When did this become acceptable? When can women win? 

To some women, rocking a pantsuit can make them feel powerful and sexy. To others, a tight dress or a low cut shirt can equate that same self-assurance. When I wake up in the morning I don’t think, Which outfit will catch boys’ attention today? Instead, I think, Which outfit is going to make me feel confident and beautiful? Indeed some days the answer is an oversized sweater and a cozy pair of sweatpants, but other days I choose to dress in a sensual backless shirt and a pair of skinny jeans that clearly make my butt look great. There is nothing wrong with expressing yourself in various ways through the way you dress – confidence is what matters most in the long run, so why shouldn’t we enjoy our powerful, gorgeous selves however we want to?

Women have breasts, women have curves, and women have butts. We shouldn’t have to apologize for our bodies. There’s absolutely no reason we can’t express ourselves through fashion, whether with “scandalous” or with conservative clothing, yet the mess thickens when we add girl-on-girl conflict into the mix.  We get jealous if we see a girl pulling off a pencil skirt better than us. We get jealous if our skin isn’t as tan as another girl. We get jealous about everything! Females are holding each other down in the same way males are holding women down – when I hear girls describing other girls as “hoes” and “sluts” I get infuriated; we need to stick together. Despite societal pressure there is no need to pit ourselves against each other; competing and feeling threatened based on attractiveness will get us no where. When we see a girl strutting her stuff in a sexy body-con dress, we need to say “Damn! She is confident and has an awesome body! Look at her go!” instead of saying “What is she wearing? That’s way too tight. What is she thinking?” Once we stop shaming each other for fashion choices, we can start to appreciate the beautiful curves each of us obtains.

I hope that tomorrow when you wake up and decide to wear a lacey black bra under a see-through white shirt, you own that outfit because nobody can tell you that you can’t show off more than usual. You’re a woman! You don’t need to confine yourself to the rules of this MAN-made society. Empower yourself by wearing a pair of over the knee boots with a leather mini-skirt. Show off some extra leg, maybe a little more collar bone. Or, wear a pantsuit. Who is going to stop you? Wearing one or the other doesn’t make you a “slut” nor does it make you responsible for anyone else’s actions. And it definitely doesn’t compromise your credibility. 

Article written by Nicole Kerman and edited by Molly Mintz. Image courtesy of US Magazine. 

It seems to be the same old thing: one of our own gets murdered. We protest; our cries are slowly drowned out. Rinse, and repeat.

With police killings occurring at the same rate as lynchings over the twentieth century, it’s hard to see this outcry ever stopping. In the months that have passed since Michael Brown’s untimely demise, [at least] three black boys have been killed by police officers, black transgender women have been murdered at least once per week, three corrupt cops have gone free, and a mentally disabled black woman has been slammed to the ground, resulting in her death. And this isn’t even scraping the surface.

What we must understand is that we live under a corrupt system. This is not a recent flaw: this country was never meant to protect blacks and Latinos, who disproportionately are targeted by police. We are inhabitants of a nation that loves our cultures and our tax dollars, but refuses to accept the notion that our lives have worth, that our lives have meaning.

So where do we go from here?

We heal.

In these heartbreaking times, it is imperative that we recognize the importance of perseverance. As poet Audre Lorde once said, “Your silence will not protect you”. We must continue to make our voices heard. Only so many of us can be drowned out. If you’re looking for steps to take, I have some advice that I myself have internalized and try to implement day to day. 

If you are a person of color and want to make a difference:

Tell another person of color that their life matters. Tell them how happy you are that they are a part of your life.

Listen to music. Remember to support artists of color, especially black artists during this time, during all times.

Sign petitions. There are many petitions circling around social media in response to the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson (and you can bet that more are going to come for the officer that wasn’t indicted for the murder of Eric Garner), and you have the ability to take things to a higher power by just adding your name to the list of thousands of others who are also looking for a change.

Take care of yourself. It is important that you take your mental and physical health extremely seriously during this time period. (We gotta outlive these white folks, y’all!)

Support black and brown business. Again, we work twice as hard to get half of what others get. Give back to your community.

Celebrate your culture and community. Love yourself, and love your people. White folks hate it when you do that. 

If you are white and want to contribute positively:

 Read up on institutionalized racism and white privilege. Stay well informed, but do not speak over the voices of people of color. You may have read everything, but they know more from a lifetime of living in a racist society.

Support black business. This goes for y’all too.

Remain peaceful during protests. Do not go to protests if you simply want to start rioting. This puts lives in danger. I only state this because on multiple occasions, white anarchists and extreme leftists have infiltrated peaceful protests and rioted, causing police to act very aggressively against (you guessed it) black and brown protestors.

Stay in your lane. You are not Michael Brown. You are not Tamir Rice. You are not Renisha McBride. You are safe -- but you have the ability to assert that you will never be Darren Wilson or George Zimmerman.

Give your POC friends space. We are grieving. We will say things like “F**** white people”, and you just have to swallow your tongue and not say anything back. Let us mourn.

Article written by Ashia Ajani and edited by Molly Mintz. Images courtesy of Animal New York. Please support Ajani's efforts in aiding civilians in Ferguson by attending her fundraiser on December 19 at the Black Actors Guild in Denver, Colorado.