Oshun Energy in Beyoncé’s “Black is King”
We are certainly entering a new era when Beyoncé, our most celebrated Black pop star, can access a dominant worldwide corporation like Disney—responsible for some of the most troubling anti-Black representations for nearly a century—and utilize its platform to correct our image and offer us a grand, divine mirror to see ourselves anew. “Black is King” is Oshun’s mirror by way of Beyoncé’s artistic vision.
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Episode 3 — June Medical and the Future of U.S. Abortion Rights
In June Medical, the Supreme Court struck down a challenge to abortion rights in Louisiana, a state in which reproductive health care access is already fraught. Even though this case put challenges to rest, lawmakers in Louisiana have effectively undercut women’s access to reproductive healthcare, causing clinic closures and more. As our guests—Yamani Hernandez, Nancy Northup, Kathaleen Pittman and Mary Ziegler—make clear, Roe is not enough.
But it’s not just abortion rights or pregnancy at stake: Reproductive justice matters, and bringing that lens into these conversations is urgent. The rise in criminalization of pregnant women for failing to comport to the state’s standards for behavior during pregnancy is alarming: Women have been threatened with arrest for refusing C-sections, falling down steps and attempting suicide during pregnancy. What’s the future of Americans being able to exercise control their own reproductive futures, given the aggressive attacks at the state and federal levels? We close considering how organizations, doctors, lawyers and activists are fighting back.
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August 2020 Reads for the Rest of Us
As we reach the dog days of summer—a summer of challenge and change—you may be reading more. Some of the 31 books I’ve included may have slipped under your radar. You’re sure to find something of interest, so which will you read?
