Starbucks has a different kind of holiday cup this year with a powerful message.

This is our world to share, now and after the election.

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As Starbucks sets aside pumpkin spice lattes to make way for peppermint mochas and gingerbread-flavored drinks, the Seattle coffee-chain is doing something a little different this year.

It's tradition for the retailer to put their standard white cups with green logos into storage around this time of year to make way for a special edition red "holiday" cup. This year, however, they're going green, literally, and for a very good reason.

Photo by Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks.

With the presidential election less than a week away, the United States feels more divided than usual. That's why Starbucks commissioned artist Shogo Ota to produce a special edition cup that will be available until the election.

Ota's design, overlaid on a green cup, consists of a single line that connects a large group of people.

"The green cup and the design represent the connections Starbucks has as a community with its partners (employees) and customers," said Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz in a press release. "During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values and the need to be good to each other."

Ota creates his art on the window of a Starbucks store in Seattle. Photo by Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks.

By keeping the red cups in storage until after the election (they're coming; don't worry), Starbucks aims to mend our nation's divisions — in so much as a coffee chain can. Ota's design represents unity and is meant to serve as a symbol of our shared humanity.

Photo by Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks.

Some people reacted to Starbucks's call for empathy with anger.

Some decried diversity and unity (this Twitter user later tweeted that "[unity] does become more difficult the more groups are added to the mix.").

And others saw this as a political message of its own.

Of course, this is social media, where you could say, "The sky is blue," and you'd be hit with responses telling you that it's actually purple. So while it's kind of ridiculous that there are people this upset about a call for empathy and unity, it's worth noting that these people are probably very small in number.

The truth is that no matter your political leanings, the message Starbucks is spreading is important. After all, when this election is over, we still have to live with one another — no matter how different we may be.

Maybe you're a Trump supporter, or maybe you're planning on voting for Hillary Clinton. When all is said and done on Nov. 8, our country will still be made up of the same people it is today. To think that the election of one of the candidates will eliminate the anger, resentment, distrust, and hostility we face in each other in the world would be naive.

No election will solve those problems. No election can solve those problems. Those issues — what it means to coexist with people who hold vastly different beliefs than our own — are on us to solve in our everyday lives and in how we choose to treat others. This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue; this is a human issue.

GIF from Starbucks.

As people, we will continue to disagree on a great many issues, some of which are very important. That is OK. There are more than 300 million people in this country. There will never come a day where we will all agree on everything, and that's a fact. There will still be issues that divide us in big ways — issues like the environment, culture, race, gender, religion, the economy, the military, and so much more.

That is OK. That is healthy. That is human.

Ota creates his art on the window of a Starbucks store on 1st Avenue in Seattle. Photo by Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks.

When we look back on history, the "right" side of some of these battles might be obvious. Others, not so much.

If you're looking for a good barometer for what constitutes being on "the right side of history," it's usually the side rooted in empathy. Again, though, not all of these battles are as simple as "good" versus "evil" — humanity is far too complex and nuanced for that to be the case.

A civil rights protest button being worn by a female demonstrator at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963. Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images.

Empathy, unity, and life are not values exclusive to a political party. And while the value of Starbucks urging us to see that can be debated, the message should resonate.

It's easy to feel cynical about a brand calling on humanity for any purpose. It's easy to look at the negative responses and feel disgusted by the world. It's easy to forever see yourself and what you stand for as the good in a battle versus evil.

But let's not. Let's try to do what is hard — let's try to see each other as human beings. Clinton supporter, Trump supporter, Democrat, Republican, Independent, or otherwise — we all share this earth, now, next week, and the world after.

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

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What's really motivating our dislike and distrust of Hillary? President Obama has an idea.

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On the stump in Ohio this week, President Obama directed a crucial part of his speech to men:

Photo by Ty Wright/Getty Images.

In particular, he asked us to search our feelings about Hillary Clinton — and ask ourselves why they're often, in his view, disproportionately negative.

"You know, there's a reason why we haven't had a woman president before... I want every man out there who's voting to kind of look inside yourself and ask yourself: If you're having problems with this stuff, how much of it is, you know, that we're just not used to it. When a guy's ambitious and out in the public arena and working hard, well that's OK, but when a woman does it, suddenly you're all like, 'Well, why's she doing that?' I'm just being honest. I want you to think about it."

A sitting president asking half of the electorate to examine their own prejudices against a current presidential candidate is a pretty unprecedented move.

Photo by Ty Wright/Getty Images.

Not only has a woman never led a major party ticket before, but asking men to search their souls about their unwilling, unconscious participation in structural discrimination against women in general is not something that, historically, has gone over particularly well with... you know, men.

Predictably, there was outrage, notably in the conservative press.

A Breitbart report on the speech claimed the president was "ridiculing" Trump supporters and suggesting that "men are sexist if they support Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton."

Hot Air's Allahpundit found Obama's speech patronizing and mocked the president for "politely scolding them for their sexism towards poor, crooked Hillary."

There are, of course, valid reasons to dislike Hillary Clinton other than sexism.

You might be a conservative-minded person spooked by some of her left-of-center policy ideas. You might be irked by her close ties to Wall Street. Her 2002 vote for a pivotal Iraq War resolution might give you pause.

But implicit gender bias is a real thing, and the fact that it's unconscious is what makes it so hard to acknowledge and fight.

And science backs up the notion that it's a particular problem for women seeking positions of authority or applying for jobs in general.

A University of Texas study found that women applying for fellowships in geoscience were 50% less likely to receive "excellent" recommendations from their references, compared to their male peers.

A McKinsey/Lean In analysis found that women's share of the workforce declines at every subsequent level of management — while 46% of entry-level employees are women, only 19% of C-suite executives are. Women in the study reported feeling unfairly treated, and a majority felt promotions in their workplace were not awarded based on merit.

The notion that ambitious women are untrustworthy and unlikeable isn't just a Hillary Clinton thing either. Elizabeth Warren, frequently held up as the ideal "if only" candidate for left-leaning Democrats, was subject to many of the same attacks when she ran for senate in Massachusetts.

Now that a woman is applying for the most important job in the world, President Obama is right — we should at least ask ourselves the question and be honest with ourselves.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Not to flagellate ourselves for being bad, sexist idiots, but to try to identify a small, unconscious piece that might make life subtly harder for the women in our lives — and in public life.

If it's not there, then great! But it can't hurt to try and know one way or the other — and to work on it if it is.

It doesn't mean you have to vote for Hillary. It just means ... think about stuff. You know?

Like, just think about it. A little.

The stakes are too high not to at least wonder.

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The delightful reason Emma Watson is hiding books on the subway.

What a Nigerian-American's struggle at the lunch table tells us about diversity.

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​​This story was originally published on The Mash-Up Americans.

“When you are in this house, you are in Nigeria; when you are outside of these doors, you are in the USA.”

This was a common refrain from my dad. He and my mom immigrated to the U.S. from Lagos in the '80s to finish university. I was the first in my family to be born in the U.S. — but I lived in an alternate Nigerian-American reality. As a child of Nigerian immigrants growing up in Chicago, code-switching was an art form.

It was particularly tough when it came to school. In a Nigerian household, education is everything. Religion and education are the panacea for all problems. There was no challenge that a Holy book, or a math book, couldn’t solve. School in Nigeria isn’t about making friends or varsity sports or prom queens. It is about putting your head down and studying. The overarching theme is: Work now, play later. By labor comes wealth.

Boyede Sobitan in his happy place. Image via The Mash-Up Americans.

In American schools, fitting in and making friends is of utmost importance. As an African kid in the Midwest with foreign parents — suffice to say that Hollywood did not help me meet those goals.

I love Eddie Murphy, but the movie “Coming to America,” was the worst thing that could have happened to many African immigrants in the '80s and '90s. The accents. The outfits. Everything was terrible, and everybody I met at school thought that’s what my family was like too. Did we have animals walking around our house? The never-ending jokes about what things were like in “Zamunda!” Then there were those awful Christian Children’s Fund ads with the starving African children and constant images of Africa as a place of strife and famine.

Being African was not cool.

Image via iStock.

Food was always a solace, at least at home. But not at school. Try explaining an African meal to an American child in the '80s.

While other kids were eating bologna sandwiches, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Capri Sun, I was eating white rice, egusi stew, and stewed goat meat, my favorite.

To me, it was food. Not only was it food, it was great food. I never noticed the difference in smell between my meals and the other kids’ meals. I thought African food was downright fragrant. In Nigeria, food from home is always the best. But to my American counterparts, it was pungent and offensive, which led to a lot of isolation.

“That’s monkey food, “ or “Is that was what they eat in Africa?” were common retorts. The immense level of shame I felt didn’t go unnoticed at home — where, of course, we were Nigerian through and through.

“Why are you not eating?” my mom would often ask.

“I want some pizza, Ma.”

My mother’s response? To look at me incredulously and snap: “Pizza ko, lasagna ni!” In other words, “You don’t want pizza. You want lasagna!” followed by a hiss. This is a common comeback for many Yoruba people. My mom’s stance was: “If you don’t eat this rice, you won’t eat.” Meals quickly transformed from my favorite time of day to a nightmare.

After a few years, though, the ice began to thaw between me and my classmates — or the jollof began to bridge the gap, as the case may be.

Image via iStock.

Thanksgiving played a huge part in this. It celebrates common values that both Americans and Africans hold dear — faith, family, and food. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. We’ve adopted the traditional turkey. But we have included sides like Nigerian salad, moi-moi, jollof rice, fried rice (not the Asian form), and dodo, or fried plantain.

Finally, my two cultures began to merge.

I loved when my “American” friends came over, and I could articulate what we were eating and its significance to my culture. At home, I was in a safe place. My friends were on my territory. I didn’t have to go to the corner to enjoy my food. I could eat my fried goat meat with stuffing or jollof rice with a turkey drumstick. It was, truly, my American dream.

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This post was originally published on The Mash-Up Americans. The Mash-Up Americans explores culture, race, and identity in America and what makes us who we are. Team Mash-Up will ask every complicated, awkward question and will do it with love.

If you like this, you might also like:

A Name Is Just A Name Until It Is Everything
Finding Home In Unexpected Places
How Eating Vegan Connects Me To My Grandmother

Also, you should check out The Mash-Up Americans website, subscribe to their podcast, and sign up for their weekly newsletter.

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'Darth Vader Girl' is the most heartwarming hospital visit you'll see today.

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A long 12 years ago, in a Los Angeles far, far away ... Noah Bella Michaelis was born with a congenital heart defect.

She was diagnosed with a combination of heterotaxy syndrome, dextrocardia, and a single-ventricle defect — meaning, among other things, that her heart formed on the opposite side of her body.

She's also a huge fan of "Star Wars," although the verdict's still out on whether that's a congenital condition or something that developed over time.

Noah with her parents, who are totally dressed as Han Solo and Princess Leia.

In her short life so far, Noah has already undergone four open-heart surgeries, and numerous lengthy hospital stays.

In "Star Wars" terms, that's kind of like battling your best friend on the lava planet of Mustafar, but with less dramatic posturing and more endless bouts of hospital-induced boredom interspersed with moments of fear and relief.

Noah passes her recovery time in the hospital with homework, marathons of Minecraft and Settlers of Catan, and working with her parents on her lemonade stand and backyard festival fundraisers that have helped to raise more than $60,000 so far for the Hopeful Hearts Foundation.

GIF from "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith."

But after too much time spent in hospitals, even a resilient kid like Noah needs an extra-special pick-me-up.

Fortunately, there are organizations like the For the Win Project that offer fantastical surprises and superheroic opportunities for kids like Noah who are stuck in the children's ward for weeks or months at a time.

When a nurse asked Noah who her favorite superhero was — not-so-inconspicuously-inquiring because of an upcoming kind of special visit — Noah offered a rather unconventional answer: Darth Vader.

Yep. Noah's favorite superhero is ... this guy:

GIF from "Star Wars IV: A New Hope."

OK, so maybe the Jedi-turned-Dark-Lord-of-the-Sith isn't exactly the first role model that comes to mind.

For most of us, the iconic image of Darth Vader emerging from the smoke for his first on-screen appearance is, erm, well, not something we usually associate with "happy thoughts."

When you think about it, though, Noah's affinity for Vader makes a lot of sense.

"I always found Darth Vader to be such a strong character," Noah says. "I'm short for my age, and I liked that he was really tall and so it made me feel tall."

Granted, Noah probably doesn't relate to the immaculate-Force-conception or the Tusken Raider attacks or the terrible tinny dialogue about sand, but still.

Like Noah, Vader has lived through plenty of physical hardships. He endured immense physical pain and had to rely on technology to save his failing body, just like she has, and he still managed to become the second-most-powerful person in the galaxy.

And, oh yeah, let's not forget that time he redeemed himself by overthrowing the Emperor and restoring balance to The Force. That was cool too.

"Being Darth Vader kind of helped me step away from being in the hospital," Noah says.

For The Win Project arranged a special "Star Wars"-themed celebration for Noah at the hospital, complete with stormtroopers and a "Darth Noah" photoshoot. They even surprised her with messages from some special celebrity guests, which made her smile brighter than the twin suns of Vader's home planet of Tatooine. Somehow. It's even more delightful than it sounds.

Sure, the photoshoot and celebrity messages aren't a cure. But for one day, Darth Noah got to revel in the stoic, black-caped confidence of her hero.

And sometimes that's all you need to keep going.

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Discouraged by politics? You should check out the revolution happening in Iceland.

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Iceland's newest political party — the Pirate Party — is proof that peaceful political revolutions might just be possible.

On Oct. 29, 2016, Iceland held a historic parliamentary election, and the results were pretty indicative of the political turmoil rocking Iceland right now. The ruling Progressive Party lost more than half of its seats in the election, which was sparked by anti-government protests earlier this year after Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned for being implicated in the Panama Papers.

Former Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson. Photo by Halldoor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images.

After so much government corruption was exposed, Iceland's citizens were understandably angry. They yearned for a new type of politician.

That's when the music swelled, the winds changed, and some swashbuckling pirates came swooping in. OK, not those kinds of pirates, but they did have a black flag.

He kind of looks like a pirate, right? Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images.

The Pirate Party is a group of political activists who are turning Iceland's anger and distrust of the government into real political change.

The party's humble origin stems from Sweden, where it was originally established to protest Swedish file-sharing and copyright laws. The name of the party comes from a Swedish torrenting site called "The Pirate Bay," where people could illegally download movies, music, and a host of other files they might want to get their hands on.

The Pirate Party exists officially in over 60 countries with dozens elected to government positions. As of Iceland's October election, the Pirate Party holds 10 out of 63 seats in Iceland's parliament. The other big winner of the election was women — who won a record 30 parliament seats (more than any single party).

The Pirate Party is being called radical, but really they're just frustrated voters who wanted to see some change in their political system.

The group is a legitimate political party with candidates running for (and winning) real elections around the world with platforms of government transparency and increased participation in democracy.

In Iceland, they also want to end the war on drugs, put more gender identity options on government documents, cut the gender pay gap, and increase privacy.

The pirates are young, new, and here to disrupt the system, but they're not interested in mask-wearing Mr. Robot-style hacktivism. The pirates have decided that the best way to change a system they don't like is by getting involved in it.

Their approach to politics is, well, political. There's a system in place, and the Pirate Party has chosen to work within it instead of yelling at it.

The Panama Papers, more than anything, created anger and distrust in Iceland. We've seen similar feelings in the United States this year, along with a rise of non-business-as-usual candidates like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

There are a lot of Americans who feel disenfranchised, misled, and cheated by their government. Just like people in Iceland, Americans are angry and yearn for sweeping change.

The Pirates are taking that anger and using it as motivation for a real grassroots political revolution. They're not trying to elect a radical leader who will change everything for them; they're building their own political party based on their interests from the ground up.

Iceland Pirate Party founder Birgitta Jónsdóttir and fellow activists reacting to the election results. Photo by Halldoor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images.

Political revolution doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen with a single election. It's a slow, steady climb.

Whether the Pirate Party can accomplish everything it wants remains to be seen, but its growing success is a reminder that our hunger to change everything can be used to work with the system instead of just being aimlessly angry about it or seeking to burn the whole thing to the ground to start over. Democracy tends to work best when we're all active, motivated, and participating.

As Margaret Mead famously said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

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Adele's words about postpartum depression are profane, raw, and honest.

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In the December issue of Vanity Fair, music icon Adele opened up about her own personal experience dealing with postpartum depression after her son's birth in October 2012.

Like many new moms dealing with postpartum depression, she didn't even realize that's what she was feeling at first.

"My knowledge of postpartum — or post-natal, as we call it in England — is that you don’t want to be with your child; you’re worried you might hurt your child; you’re worried you weren’t doing a good job. But I was obsessed with my child. I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life. ... It can come in many different forms."

Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images.

An estimated 900,000 new mothers in the U.S. experience postpartum depression every year — and an alarmingly low 15% of these women actually receive treatment for it.

There's still a huge stigma surrounding postpartum depression (PPD), and a lot of misconceptions about what such a diagnosis means. Society places high expectations on mothers and motherhood, and women often feel guilty if they don't take to their new role naturally. This means that many new mothers are hesitant to admit if motherhood isn't everything they're told it should be.

For mothers experiencing postpartum depression, symptoms can range from unexplainable sadness to uncontrollable anger, and asking for help can feel like admitting you're a bad parent.

Adele said she was also reluctant to seek help, though eventually, she found comfort in talking to other new moms.

Of course, she described it to Vanity Fair in true Adele fashion — bluntly and with lots of raw emotion and f-bombs:

"I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I was very reluctant ... My boyfriend said I should talk to other women who were pregnant, and I said, 'F**k that, I ain’t hanging around with a f**kin' bunch of mothers.' Then, without realizing it, I was gravitating towards pregnant women and other women with children, because I found they’re a bit more patient."

Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

Postpartum depression, of course, has many layers to it and presents differently in different people. But it was through these conversations with other mothers that Adele said she realized she wasn't alone.

"One day I said to a friend, 'I f**kin' hate this,' and she just burst into tears and said, 'I f**kin' hate this, too.' And it was done. It lifted."

Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images.

By using her powerful voice to shine a light on the issue of postpartum depression, Adele is empowering mothers to recognize that they aren't alone and shouldn't be ashamed or afraid seek the help they need.

Too often, mothers are expected to sacrifice everything for their kids and to do so without complaining and at the expense of their own mental health. There's a lot of pressure on moms to be perfect and to be incredibly hard on themselves if they take any time away from their kids, especially when their kids are still young.

At the end of the day, you shouldn't need to justify what you need to feel good or to force yourself into a box of what you think a perfect mother looks like. The best way to take care of your kid and to be a great mom, especially if you're experiencing PPD, is to make sure you're taking care of yourself.

Which is exactly what Adele did:

"Eventually I just said, I'm going to give myself an afternoon a week, just to do whatever the f**k I want without my baby. A friend of mine said, 'Really? Don’t you feel bad?' I said, I do, but not as bad as I'd feel if I didn’t do it. Four of my friends felt the same way I did, and everyone was too embarrassed to talk about it; they thought everyone would think they were a bad mom, and it's not the case. It makes you a better mom if you give yourself a better time."

GIF via CBS.

PREACH.

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