Every Friday, Ms. executive editor Kathy Spillar breaks down the week’s biggest stories, offering commentary. This weekly letter from the editor recaps critical developments in U.S. and global feminism—alongside the latest Ms. must-reads—right as they unfold.
Category: Politics
Women’s Representation: Why Are State Legislatures Still So White and Male?
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: an interview with Zoraya Hightower, the first woman of color on the Burlington, Vt., City Council; new Biden Cabinet nominees confirmed; why state legislatures are still largely white and male; progress toward diversifying all-male boards; and will Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) become the third Black woman in the Senate?
Trade, China and Human Rights: The Challenges Facing the Biden Administration
The Biden administration must contend with major foreign and trade policy issues, including how to manage the potentially-hazardous legacy left by the Trump administration.
What Comes After Black History Month?
Echoing the words of Shirley Chisholm, we must be at the table to affect positive change and if they don’t give us a seat, we bring a folding chair. Our “folding chair” to address representation is electoral reform: fair representation with ranked-choice voting.
Anti-Abortion Trump Official Leads Campaign Against Voting Rights Legislation, HR 1
Anti-abortion groups are launching an assault on landmark voting rights legislation HR 1, saying it would ensure “pro-abortion Democrats” had permanent control over the federal government.
We Have Her Back: Opposition to Neera Tanden Reflects Sexist, Racist Double Standard
A sexist storm of double standards and hypocrisy is brewing, with Office of Budget and Management (OMB) nominee Neera Tanden at the center, putting her confirmation to lead the government agency in serious jeopardy.
The Fab Five: Shattering L.A. County’s Glass Ceiling
Asked when there would be enough women on the U.S. Supreme Court, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously replied: “When there are nine.”
It seems the voters of Los Angeles agree: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors—the largest local government in the nation—has made history with the first all-women board in its more than 150-year history.
How the $1.9 Trillion Pandemic Rescue Package Addresses Racial and Gender Disparities
The House this week is considering the $1.9 trillion rescue package from the Biden administration, designed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and related economic pain in a way that also furthers equity. So what’s in it?
Will 2021 be Defined by Voting Rights and Electoral Reform?
With 2020 being largely defined by the crises which continue to wrack our democracy, many democratic reformers hope 2021 will be defined by the actions we take to address and correct the pitfalls of our electoral system.
Table for 12, Please: HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge Plans to Stand Up, Speak Up and Show Up
Rep. Marcia Fudge, 58, says it is “an honor and a privilege” to be asked to join President Biden’s Cabinet. If confirmed, Fudge will follow in the footsteps of her Delta sorority sister, Patricia Roberts Harris, the first Black woman to lead HUD under the Carter administration.