More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: Black women are underrepresented in political spaces and prove to be the most vulnerable in our democracy; despite Donald Trump facing trials in four other cities, he has specifically chosen to contest against Fani Willis, a Black woman serving as the district attorney; a free webinar about ranked-choice voting and its implementation at the Oscars; and more.
Antoinette Bonnie Candia-Bailey, a beloved professor at an historically Black University in Missouri, committed suicide on Jan. 8, reportedly as a result of racism by the school’s president. Harvard University president Claudine Gay recently resigned amid accusations of plagiarism. Many view her resignation as an illustration of the broader issue of marginalizing Black women within the predominantly white male academic space.
Academia is not inherently designed for the success of Black faculty. These institutions were initially created for and catered to white people, placing BIPOC in a position where they must succeed within systems not designed for their success. Centering Black scholars in roles critical to the institution involves challenging the role of white supremacy addressing systemic issues within academia that create unrealistic expectations.
On Sunday, Jan. 7, the annual Golden Globe Awards aired live from Los Angeles. From Barbie vs. Oppenheimer, to Timothée Chalamet vs. Nicholas Cage, this night had a lot of steep competition. But many could not have predicted the biggest “beef” to occur on that stage: host Jo Koy vs. everybody else.
Many critics, viewers and audience members sitting in the Beverly Hilton were not impressed with the opening monologue by the 52-year-old comedian, finding his jokes sexist or just unfunny.
Awareness of the U.S. maternal health crisis has increased—but a parallel crisis of human rights violations against pregnant and postpartum people remains invisible or misunderstood. By convening two People’s Tribunals to End Obstetric Violence and Obstetric Racism before the end of the year, we aim to change that. The first will happen on Oct. 6 in New York City at the NYU Law School, and the second on Dec. 1 in Memphis, at BRIDGES USA.
We cannot fix the maternal mortality problem without fixing the human rights problem at its core.
Black women across America face many health crises buoyed by systemic failures ever-present since our country began. The fact that health disparities persist and widen is an indictment on our system and those whose health and well-being it prioritizes—but more is possible.
Closing the Medicaid gap is arguably one of the quickest ways to make our nation’s health system more equitable.
In 2021, more than 360 Black women died of maternal health causes across the country, according to the CDC—up from just over 290 in 2020 and more than 240 the year prior.
Despite advancements in medicine and technology over the years, the racial gap in who is suffering the most severe consequences of childbirth is growing, and most Black maternal and child health experts point to systematic racism as the root cause.
Achieving health justice won’t happen by itself. First, we need to imagine it can be done. Then we need to organize and make it happen together.
The War on Women was in full force under the Trump administration. While the battle may look different today, we are staying vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching.
This week: the United States Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; sexism and racism enter the Jan. 6 Attack hearings; FINA bans transgender women from participating in women’s swimming competitions; and more.
Mariama Diallo’s debut feature film Master, which she wrote and directed, deftly navigates several registers in terms of genre—slipping from supernatural horror to intellectual drama to psychological thriller and back again.
The film doesn’t pull any punches. Its biting critique of the abysmal state of American race politics, particularly in the hallowed halls of the ivory tower, is vicious and direct. And while I won’t give away the end, I will say that it’s largely satisfying and entirely unexpected—perhaps offering a new and effective rejoinder when the horrors of the past inevitably bleed into the present.
Black people make up just over 13 percent of the population—but 22 percent of the fatal police shootings, 47 percent of the wrongful conviction exonerations and 35 percent of the individuals executed by the death penalty.
What kind of schools and worlds are we attempting to create if reflecting, deconstructing and confronting racism and privilege aren’t regular practices?
