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FeaturedLGBTQ+ EqualitySocial JusticeWriting

Queer Liberation and Black Liberation are Inseparable

by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro
written by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro

This week, Somersworth became the first city in New Hampshire to raise the Juneteenth flag. Juneteenth, also called Liberation Day or the Day of Jubilee, marks the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation — two and a half years after it became law — in the final state of the union. Since it is also Pride month, and there are two flagpoles at Somersworth’s Citizen’s Place, the Juneteenth flag now waves next to the rainbow Pride flag, where they will wave together for a week (the Pride flag stays up all June long here in the Rainbow City).

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Crystal Paradis for Somersworth City Council At-Large, Somersworth, NH
Community EngagementFeatured

How Somersworth, NH’s smallest city, allows us to think big

by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro
written by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro

Somersworth is New Hampshire’s smallest geographic city, and I grew up knowing about it mostly for being the home to General Electric (GE) and to my stepfamily, and for the WalMart that was seemingly the only place open late during my years attending high school in Dover. Later, I’d learn that, just like the city of Portsmouth where I was born, it’s also a mill town on a river, with a working-class legacy and lots of brick in it’s beautiful historic downtown. I lived in and around Somersworth multiple times in my life, and most recently relocated back here just under three years ago, just as it was starting to develop a new reputation — as New Hampshire’s “Rainbow City.”

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FeaturedFeminismSocial Justice

Feminism is empty without intersectionality and action

by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro
written by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro

The word “feminist” is on my business card. Not as a title I’m using to define myself, but because it’s in the name of my business. Even with its recent rise to acceptance in mainstream popular culture, the word “feminist” still prompts startled reactions most times I hand someone my card. Since I’m so frequently reminded of the baggage of this word, I’m also increasingly aware of my responsibility to define, and demonstrate by my actions, what I mean when I use the word “feminist.”

Feminist theorist bell hooks (no, the lowercase of her name isn’t a typo – she consciously declines to capitalize her name in favor of putting the emphasis on her ideas) defines feminism as “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.” Defining feminism as a commitment to end oppression is notable in that it is not (as it is sometimes misperceived to be) seeking to reverse it. Taking power from one group and giving it to another doesn’t solve the problem – it simply perpetuates domination and systemic injustice.

Feminist poet Audre Lorde wrote, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.” The goal of a hooks and Lorde kind of feminist movement is to dismantle systemic power structures altogether in favor of equity for everyone – all genders, all identities.

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content managementDigital MarketingFeatured

WordPress Content Management for Socially-Responsible Businesses

by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro
written by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro

If you’re a business or nonprofit with a social mission, and you’re looking for some help managing your online presence, we just might be a perfect match.

You might need help with content management if…

  • If you have a website but people who visit it can never figure out how to find what they’re looking for
  • If *you* can never find what you need on your own website
  • If you know what you want your website to say, but don’t have time or skills to make the edits yourself
  • You want to figure out how to make it easier for website visitors to take an action (share a post, contact you, buy something, book a consultation)
  • You want social media to play nice with your website
  • You want to come up higher on the search engine / Google results pages (SEO Copywriting can help with that, too)

What is content management?

Content management is managing (editing, publishing, updating, rearranging, freshening up) your content (blog posts, web pages, photos, videos, infographics, memes, sidebars, menu items, forms, etc.) to help you reach more people more effectively online.

Content management is not a thing that non-techie folks are necessarily able to learn intuitively — and even if you are able to add or edit blog posts, you may not know enough about user experience (UX) or search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. That’s where a content manager — like me — comes in.

Okay, what’s WordPress content management?

“WordPress content management” simply means editing, updating and maintaining your website on the WordPress platform. Not sure if your website is on WordPress already? Well, since WordPress is still the most widely-used content management system (or CMS) out there, chances are good that your website is on it.

Why WordPress content management for socially-responsible businesses?

I care about helping teams that are working to create better communities.

Many socially-responsible businesses and organizations have service providing as a top priority, but their digital /online presence might be taking a back seat.

I’ve written before about how search engine optimization is community engagement optimization.  If people can’t find you online, they can’t advance your mission.

A robust communications strategy is really important. And, a fair amount of communications strategy can be demonstrated with a really clear website content strategy — and that includes everything from menu structure to clear and compelling calls-to-action.

Therefore, providing WordPress content management for socially-responsible businesses is critical to building better communities.

So, should we work together?

If you’ve ever worked with me before, you know about my commitment to working with socially-responsible, values-aligned organizations and businesses — aka values-centric work. If you’ve seen my Services page, you’ve seen the list of the types of organizations and businesses I will and won’t work with. Socially responsible is a category that encompasses many attributes that my favorite clients share.

So, if you’re part of a socially-responsible business or organization in need of some WordPress content management assistance, I’d love to talk. Since I work freelance, I can typically offer rates lower than agencies — and if all you need is content management (organization, re-organization or optimization of your existing site), you likely don’t need a pricey agency anyway.

Drop me a line, and I’d be happy to give you a free assessment, take a walk outside with you or grab a beverage and talk about your communications and marketing goals and whether I’d be a good fit to help you achieve them.

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Domestic & Sexual ViolenceFeaturedGun ViolencePoliticsSocial Justice

Gun Violence is Our Responsibility

by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro
written by Crystal Paradis-Catanzaro

It was easy to tell myself I wasn’t doing work that supported the NRA. Until a man walked into a club in Orlando and killed 49 people, injuring over 50 others. Once again, dozens of innocent people were dead. Our nation mourned. Vigils were held. Arguments raged. Who is culpable for letting this happen again?

I was. And I didn’t act alone.

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