Author Archives: Taekia Blackwell

Taekia discovered Harry Potter when she was forced to read Chamber of Secrets in sixth grade and never looked back. She was excited to join the HPA staff over three years ago, combining her love of helping others with her near obsession with the Boy Who Lived. A recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh she is both thrilled and terrified to begin planning the rest of her life and knows that Harry and the HPA will be a huge part of it.

Updated! #EqualityFTW FAQ

We’ve been getting some questions about the campaign, so we’ve decided to create this FAQ blog which will hold all the questions we get over the next 22 days… yeah, it’s going to get long. If you would like more clarification, or have a question which isn’t listed here please feel free to leave it [...]

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Posted in Harry Potter Alliance News |

Yer a Wizard, Harry

Happy Birthday, to Harry Potter, the boy who lived and to JK Rowling whose stories have helped to shape a generation. Today is a big day, and in true HPA form, we celebrate it not only with words, but with actions. Hagrid’s 4 words are the start of a great adventure for our reluctant hero [...]

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Posted in Harry Potter Alliance News |

Binging on Television

Let me start off by saying I feel like I could write an entire series on this subject. I binge on television in a way that is probably incredibly unhealthy for my social life, except that I then make it a part of my social life. I don’t just binge, I binge and push. Talk [...]

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Posted in Action, Empowerment | Tagged , , , ,

LIVESTREAM 3/21/2012 at 7PM ET

Join Andrew Slack, and others, as we learn more about our current campaign Hunger is Not a Game and prepare for the much awaited release of The Hunger Games. We’re going live at 7PM ET on www.livestream.com/imaginebetter May the odds be ever in your favor

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Posted in HPA Announcements |

A Quiet Storm

Andrew always says that I hold court. However, I consider myself to be pretty quiet. I’m never the first person to walk up to someone and start a conversation. I’m not that person that everyone just has to know. One of my favorite “empowering” quotes is from Marianne Williamson. It goes: Our deepest fear is [...]

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Posted in Harry Potter Alliance News |

Read It First…or Not

Do you always read the book before you see the movie? Find yourself experiencing severe chest pain at the slightest detour from the original? Or do you value a book and its movie for totally different reasons? Check out Taekia’s thoughts on why different media forms deserve different expectations.

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Posted in Harry Potter Alliance News, Philosophical Musings, Stories | Tagged , , , ,

Check out The HPA on Star.Me

Go here: http://www.star.me/fun/question/?pid=31977 To Check out the HPA’s Mission of the Day and sign up for star.me

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Posted in HPA Announcements |

Andrew Slack discusses 9/11 and “The Mourning After”

This weekend marked the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, a moment which had global implications and forever marred the American psyche. For those of us who have lived through Pre-9/11 and now Post-9/11 world, Septemember 11th, 2001 and the days and weeks that followed, the last decade in fact, illuminated both the best and worst [...]

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Posted in HPA Announcements |

To Karen Bernstein, the girl who… wrocked!

Today as we all board the Hogwarts Express, it is with heavy hearts and a bittersweet farewell to one of our most influential leaders at the HPA, Karen Bernstein. Karen is officially stepping down from her work at the HPA in order to pursue teaching and graduate school and other endeavors more fully.

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Posted in Harry Potter Alliance News |

Day of Silence

Today the HPA is observing the National Day of Silence in solidarity with those in the LGBTQ community who have had to live their lives in silence. In today’s world with the seemingly endless ways to have your voice be heard – from Facebook and Twitter to shouting in the streets – the suffocation of [...]

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Posted in Harry Potter Alliance News |