Ms. reporter Lisa Rabasca Roepe sat down with EMILY’s List president Laphonza Butler to discuss her experience as the first Black woman and first mother to run EMILY’s List and the importance of women’s political leadership.
Author: Lisa Rabasca Roepe
Lisa Rabasca Roepe is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance journalist who writes about women in the workplace and issues related to gender and diversity. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, Business Insider, the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, Marketplace, Quartz, CQ Researcher and The Week. Follow her on Twitter: @lisarab.
What Will It Take To Get a Black Woman Elected to the Senate? Collective PAC’s Stefanie Brown James Breaks it Down
Ms. reporter Lisa Rabasca Roepe spoke with Stefanie Brown James, founder of the Collective PAC, about why 2018 was a turning point for Black women running for office, how teaching civics in school would help bolster voter turnout and what the PAC is doing to help get the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate or as a governor.
Tina Tchen Makes the Economic Case for Investing in Care Infrastructure and Talks Violence Against Asian Women
Ms. spoke to CEO of Time’s Up Tina Tchen about why investing in care infrastructure, which would create millions of jobs for the disproportionate number of women hit by the pandemic, is just as important as building roads and bridges; why the work women do has historically been undervalued; and the increased sexual harassment and violence against Asian American women.
The Ms. Q&A: Voto Latino’s María Teresa Kumar on the Latino Vote, Disinformation and How to Combat it
The Latino vote was instrumental in putting Joe Biden in the White House and sending four new senators to Congress.
Ms. reporter Lisa Rabasca Roepe spoke with María Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino, about the organization’s early beginnings, how it used artificial intelligence (AI) to find new voters and the prevalence of disinformation in the Latino community.
Why Increasing the Minimum Wage Could Help Close the Gender Wage Gap
Nearly two-thirds of the employees making minimum wage are female. In states that have increased the minimum wage, the gender pay gap has begun to close.
“The economy can’t recover as long as millions of people who have been hardest hit [by COVID] are still being paid poverty level wages.”
The Ms. Q&A: Zerlina Maxwell on the Biden-Harris Administration, the Capitol Riots and White Supremacy
Ms. reporter Lisa Rabasca Roepe spoke with Maxwell just two days after the Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first woman, first Black and first Asian vice president of the United States, and nine days after the Trump-inspired Capitol riots.
In addition to politics, Maxwell discussed how she and her ‘Signal Boost’ co-host Jess McIntosh became friends, and why waving your hands at an automatic faucet might not turn the water on if you’re Black.
The Ms. Q&A: Mariana van Zeller on Being a Woman Journalist Covering the Black Market and Shadow Economy
Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller discusses what drives people to work in the black market as well as what it’s like to be a female journalist covering the inner workings of the shadow economy and its players.
“No Relief”: The Impact of COVID-19 on Domestic Workers
A recent survey of more than 20,000 Spanish-speaking domestic workers conducted by the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) has revealed a rapid and sustained loss of jobs and income that’s resulted in widespread housing and food insecurity.
“These jobs will be a large share of the jobs for future but the lowest paid with little to no access to a safety net,” said Ai-Jen Poo, president of the NDWA. “We need to raise wages and offer benefits to this workforce.”
Staggering U.S. Femicide Stats Prove Urgent Need for Gun Control Legislation
Nearly 2,000 women were murdered by men in 2018 and the most common weapon used was a gun. And as in years past, Black women are more likely to experience lethal domestic violence than white women.