YWCA USA

YWCA USA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. It is one of the "oldest and largest multicultural organizations promoting solutions to enhance the lives of women, girls and families."

History

YWCA USA was founded as the Ladies Christian Association in New York City in 1858.

Prior to the U.S. civil rights movement, some YWCA facilities were segregated or operated as separate organizations. Advocates like Helen L. Seaborg in Washington, D.C., worked successfully to mediate mergers between the segregated groups. Mary Ingraham was president of the National Board of the YWCA from 1940 to 1946 and involved with the YWCA's war work and interracial efforts.

YWCA USA changed its corporate name from “Young Women’s Christian Association of the United States of America, Inc.” to “YWCA USA, Inc.” in December 2015.

Structure

YWCA is a national organization with 225 local associations across the United States. At YWCA’s annual meeting in May 2012, a transition from the prior regional structure to a national federated structure was approved, followed by the adoption of new bylaws in November 2012.

Colored

Colored or coloured is a term used in the United States, especially in the South during the racial segregation era, to describe people who do not have White skin or a Caucasian appearance (non-white) or those with mixed racial heritage. Most commonly, the term was used to refer to black African Americans, although it can be applied to members of other non-white races as well. Since desegregation, colored has been widely replaced in the United States by alternative terms. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word colored was first used in the 14th Century, but with a meaning other than race or ethnicity.

In other English-speaking countries, the term has varied meanings. In South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the name Coloured (often capitalized) refers both to a specific ethnic group of complex mixed origins, which is considered neither black nor white, and in other contexts (usually lower case) to people of mixed race, including African Americans; in neither context is its usage considered derogatory. In British usage, the term refers to "a person who is wholly or partly of non-white descent" and its use may be regarded as antiquated or offensive, and other terms are preferable, particularly when referring to a single ethnicity.

Wine color

The color of wine is one of the most easily recognizable characteristics of wines. Color is also an element in wine tasting since heavy wines generally have a deeper color. The accessory traditionally used to judge the wine color was the tastevin, a shallow cup allowing one to see the color of the liquid in the dim light of a cellar. The color is an element in the classification of wines.

Color origins

The color of the wine mainly depends on the color of the drupe of the grape variety. Since pigments are localized in the exocarp (skin) of the grape drupe, not in the juice, the color of the wine depends on the method of vinification and the time the must is in contact with those skins, a process called maceration. The Teinturier grape is an exception in that it also has a pigmented pulp. The blending of two or more varieties of grapes can explain the color of certain wines, like the addition of Rubired to intensify redness.

Red drupe grapes can produce white wine if they are quickly pressed and the juice not allowed to be in contact with the skins. The color is mainly due to plant pigments, notably phenolic compounds (anthocyanidins, tannins, etc.). The color depends on the presence of acids in the wine. It is altered with wine aging by reactions between different active molecules present in the wine, these reactions generally giving rise to a browning of the wine, leading from red to a more tawny color. The use of a wooden barrel (generally oak barrels) in aging also affects the color of the wine.