12-year-old tackles 'gross' problem
By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN
Follow on Twitter: @CNNEmma
Editor's Note: Listen to the full story in our player above, and join the conversation in our comments section below.
Kelsey Hirsch was 11 years old when her parents sat her down and told her about a scandal gripping their beloved alma mater. Charles Hirsch and his wife graduated from Penn State University and like many alumni, they felt a strong connection to the place. So when allegations surfaced that coach Jerry Sandusky abused boys in his care, the Hirsch's knew they'd need to explain the story to their children.
[1:25] "We made the decision as parents that it was important that our children knew first hand what was going on versus hearing it from their friends and kind of getting misinformation."
They explained what happened and how to spot red flags in her own community, they live just outside Atlanta. Kelsey listened, and couldn't imagine why someone would harm another person that way. She wanted to help.
[0:32] "I decided to do Bands for RAINN, " she says fiddling with one such blue and white band for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network on her own wrist.
Each band sells for $3. The proceeds help fund the RAINN online hotline, a resource for those impacted by sexual violence.
[0:50] "It helps them like feel like feel like survivors instead of victims," Kelsey says.
So far, the project has raised $18,000. That's enough to provide support to 1,800 survivors, Kathrine Hull a RAINN spokeswoman said. That's impressive for someone not yet in high school.
Hull also praises Kelsey's commitment to raise awareness. They call her frank pitch on the bracelets "a gamechanger." That's because sexual violence, though widespread, is still taboo. That's something the pint-sized activist has run into.
[3:29] "Some people are just really horrible about it," she says. Some of her classmates, they ask her to stop talking about sexual violence entirely. Why? "I just think that they feel uncomfortable about it. So like, they think it's gross."
But that's just the minority, she says, and she's not deterred. She's set a new goal of $100,000 which means a lot more talking. Her dad supports her the whole way.
[3:57] "I think Kelsey's right, the more you talk about it the better. It shouldn't be a taboo topic."
With each blue and white band and the sales pitch behind it they're chipping away at that taboo.
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Big banks, big pharma and now, big travel?
By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN
Follow on Twitter: @CNNEmma
Editor's Note: Listen to the full story in our player above, and join the conversation in our comments section below.
(CNN) - Elizabeth Becker's latest book was in part, born out of frustration. The seasoned journalist, who got her start as a war correspondent, began to notice a growing global economic force; a sector of the global economy changing whole societies and ecosystems but one relegated to the lifestyle section of most major papers.
So she decided to write a book about it and give it the attention it deserves:
[1:19] "My new book is Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism," she says.
Texas law: kill an escort with no penalty
By Tommy Andres, CNN
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(CNN) –In Florida jury selection continues in the murder case of Trayvon Martin. The case has drawn national attention for its elements of race and the question over when deadly force is justified.
A thousand miles west of Sanford, Florida in San Antonio, Texas, a case has just concluded with similar questions about the use of deadly force. James Moore wrote about the case for CNN Opinion:
[6:33] "I don't quite understand why the national media hasn't discovered it in a greater way, this case is every bit as horrific and every bit as tragic."
Newtown rabbi: We're not 'freaks'
By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN
Follow on Twitter: @CNNEmma
Editor's Note: Listen to the full story in our player above, and join the conversation in our comments section below.
Newtown, Connecticut (CNN) - Six months ago, a lone gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and took 26 lives. The nation was stunned and President Barack Obama teared up while speaking about the situation.
Since then, Newtown has become a shorthand of sorts. Many argue that Newtown marks a turning point in political discussions about guns and mental health. Beyond that national discussion, we wondered about the town itself.
CNN's Wayne Drash and I recently visited Newtown. After days spent interviewing residents, attending meetings and sitting in diners, we started to notice a couple patterns. First, many people in Newtown can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news. FULL POST
Guatemala: from bananas to genocide conviction
By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN
Follow on Twitter: @CNNEmma
Editor's Note: Listen to the full story in our player above, and join the conversation in our comments section below.
(CNN) - When it comes to justice, Guatemala historically has had issues. Law professor Naomi Roht-Arriaza says the country only has a 2 percent conviction rate. That's one reason why she says the conviction of former Guatemalan dictator, Efrain Rios Montt, is an achievement.
Rios Montt presided over one of the bloodiest chapters of Guatemala's 36-year civil war. His conviction for his role in the genocide of indigenous tribes, and the trial itself, gave many Guatemalans an opportunity, according to Roht-Arriaza:
[4:06] "Everyone is watching right? This was on national TV everyday, it was on radio, it was all over the newspapers. And people could come, the courtroom was always full of spectators, many of them from areas that were destroyed when Rios Montt was in charge of the armed forces."
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