Supreme Court Hears DOJ Challenge to Texas Abortion Ban, Considers Revival of a Jim-Crow-Era Tactic to Circumvent Constitutional Rights

The Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments in two cases—United States v. Texas and Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson—both challenging the Texas law S.B. 8, which bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Texas legislators designed the law to evade federal court review by creating procedural obstacles to challenging the law. 

“Though this is in one sense about abortion, it is really about much more. It’s about: Can the state adopt a law that blatantly violates the Constitution and then immunize itself from federal court review? It’s about whether states have to follow the Constitution. It’s about the very structure of American government.”

‘If These Dolls Could Talk’: Art Exhibit Explores Role of Black Dolls in U.S. History and Challenges Racial Stereotypes

Dolls—from ancient representation of humans in art, to familiar children’s toys or use in religious rituals—have held meanings more than meets the eye. Now employing the lens of race and gender, the New-York Historical Society exhibition “Black Dolls” explores further the significant role of the Black doll in American history.

From the horrors of slavery through Reconstruction and Jim Crow, to the beginnings of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, this collection of 200 objects, textiles, sewing tools, photographs and ephemera represents a push back against negative racial stereotypes.

The Ms. Q&A With CNN Anchor Fredricka Whitfield: ‘My Work Honors the People on Whose Shoulders I Stand’

CNN Newsroom anchor Fredricka Whitfield has a lot to be proud of. As the 2023 Women’s Media Center’s Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Whitfield’s three-plus decades as a radio and television journalist have included stints across the country, where she has covered both domestic and international issues.

Eleanor J. Bader sat down with Whitfield to learn more about her incredible story.

“My work honors the people on whose shoulders I stand. I know that I have not had it as difficult as my parents or predecessors. They had to endure so much to create the path I walk. I refuse to be deterred. I’m mindful that even on my toughest days I have it better than the people who came before me.”

As Texas Bans DEI Offices at Public Colleges, Rice University’s Inclusion Efforts March On

Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have become a lightning rod for debate in American higher education. At Rice University—a private university in Houston, Texas—officials admit impact is hard to measure, but they also see progress from their work.

(Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender, race and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Submit pitches and/or op-eds and reflections to Ms. contributing editor Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com.)