Helen's metro columns highlight voices and stories that should be amplified and challenge the status-quo and the dreaded Philly Shrug.

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Opinion

Teen gun violence prevention advocate left Trump’s State of the Union address unimpressed | Helen Ubiñas

A teenage gun violence prevention advocate went to Washington hoping the nation's top lawmakers are doing what needs to be done to make Philadelphia safer. She's not so sure.

Opinion

The real dirt on ‘American Dirt’: People who claim they want to give ‘voice to the voiceless’ really don’t | Helen Ubiñas

The backlash is a long-overdue reckoning for access and opportunity and respect.

Opinion

She was shot in the face but didn’t die: ‘I felt like my whole face exploded’ | Helen Ubiñas

A woman whose face was shattered by a bullet now attempts to put her shattered life back together.

Opinion

At Saturday’s Women’s March, it may feel like an uphill battle, but three teen speakers only see possibility | Helen Ubiñas

Three Parkway Center City Middle College students will talk about how gun violence has impacted their lives.

Opinion

The bullet bracelets that caught Nancy Pelosi's eye are coming to Philadelphia | Helen Ubiñas

Mothers whose children were murdered hope they can save lives one donated bullet at a time.

Opinion

Mayor Kenney’s second-term agenda may just bring out the ‘Woo Girl’ in me | Helen Ubiñas

Mayor Kenney's second-term agenda might not seem as ambitious as his first, but if he manages to clean up our streets of litter and gun violence, I'm all in.

Opinion

They were paralyzed and alone. Here’s what’s happened since they started a gunshot survivor group. | Helen Ubiñas

Left mostly to put the pieces of their lives together on their own, paralyzed gunshot survivors create a new brotherhood.

Opinion

Shot and left for dead, a gunshot victim feels revictimized by the agencies charged to help | Helen Ubiñas

“I shouldn’t be in this situation but dammit, I’m here…and I need help."

Opinion

At the heart of a Christmas party for the children of Philadelphia murder victims, a wish for an end to gun violence | Helen Ubiñas

"Sometimes I feel so alone, but in reality, it’s all over. This is really something that’s killing our community.”