More Than A Magazine, A Movement
A new phase in U.S.–Taliban relations appears to be quietly unfolding under the Trump administration—marked by lifted bounties on senior Taliban officials, a symbolic embassy cleanup in Kabul, and the release of an American hostage. While these developments are being framed as constructive steps toward diplomacy, they also reveal a stark reality: The future of U.S.–Taliban engagement may be transactional, and Afghan women and girls are likely to be left out of the equation.
Five months out, chaos continues in a state Supreme Court race that was counted, recounted and audited.
On Friday, a state appeals court reopened Pandora’s Box by calling into question more than 60,000 votes cast in North Carolina’s Nov. 5 general election. This gives the Republican candidate, Jefferson Griffin, new hope to close his 734-vote deficit, out of 5,540,090 total votes, against Democratic candidate Allison Riggs.
When cultural texts such as Severance show how characters experience and endure attacks against bodily autonomy, it can help make the threats more salient for viewers. Questions and commentary about bodily autonomy pervade Severance and are a key concern for protecting and strengthening workers’ rights in the real world. Yet, bodily autonomy in the contemporary workplace is under threat.
Even if retirement feels out of reach, younger Americans can’t afford to ignore the GOP’s coordinated effort to sabotage Social Security from the inside out.
The playbook seems clear: Take one of the most popular and successful government programs we hav, and break it. Claim it’s so dysfunctional that it has to be dismantled, perhaps even privatized as Republicans have tried to do before. And use a flood of lies and misinformation to convince younger Americans to go along with their scheme. In essence, they’ll set our house on fire, and then stand there with fistfuls of spent matches telling us that it was doomed anyway and “would you like to invest in a nice condo near Mar-a-Lago instead?”
Without stable residence, childcare, income and economic resources, many domestic violence survivors eventually return to their abuser, trapped in a permanent cycle of violence.
Now, the Office of Management and Budget’s review of 2,600 programs for potential cuts—including key domestic violence grants labeled as “woke” “gender ideology”—has sparked alarm among advocacy organizations scrambling to support survivors without federal aid.
Just a few short miles away from Ms.‘ L.A. office, officials with the city of Beverly Hills responded to a campaign by antiabortion extremists by blocking an all-term clinic from opening its doors. An investigation into how they succeeded—in California, an “abortion sanctuary”—is our cover story for this issue. With this accomplished, where will extremists target next?
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An excerpt from Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores by Katie Mitchell, out April 8:
“Meeting Desiree Sanders made me wish I had a time machine so I could travel back to the 1990s and 2000s and just once, experience Chicago’s first Black woman-owned bookstore, Afrocentric Bookstore. …
Before the store closed permanently in 2008, Afrocentric Bookstore served the Black community for 18 years. Thousands sat at book signings, partied at book festivals, browsed curated inventory, and soaked in the artful aesthetics that Afrocentric became known for—no time machine required.”
“I’ve lived here all my life, but I have never experienced anything as devastating as this earthquake,” said 55-year-old Than in Mandalay, her voice trembling. “Everything fell apart in seconds.”
On March 28, 2025, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar, devastating communities across the regions of Mandalay, Sagaing and beyond. Homes crumbled, bridges collapsed and essential services were brought to a halt. The disaster left thousands dead and injured, and countless others—especially women and girls—battling to survive.
Five years ago, the world was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic—a crisis that transcended borders, affecting every facet of our lives. Today, while much of the world has moved on, the scars remain deeply etched in the lives of women and girls in the Global South. The crisis for us has not ended; it has merely been pushed into the shadows. As we mark World Health Day on April 7, it is imperative to confront the ongoing struggles of women and girls in the Global South and demand urgent action.
Staying motivated and positive in these uncertain times is no easy feat. We are witnessing a full-fledged patriarchal meltdown, with women’s rights under threat, jeopardized or outright stripped away.
At a recent women’s conference, an attendee told me, “I’m waiting for someone to help us and tell us what to do.” My response? Don’t wait, because nobody is coming. Change starts with us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.