Category: Politics

January 6 insurrection anti- abortion violence

Is Violence the Last Gasp of the Patriarchy?

A year ago, we watched in horror as a howling mob that was 86 percent male and 93 percent white launched a vicious attack on the Capitol. This year, I wondered why no one was connecting the dots between this insurrection, the probable demise of Roe v. Wade, and lack of action to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment—all of which fuel the pervasive gender gap in power, pay and leadership roles.

While I would like to think that the violence we witnessed on January 6 signaled (again) the last gasps of the patriarchy, my time fighting for reproductive rights has shown me otherwise.

Why Is the Senate Failing To Build Back Better? Blame Sexism

Why Is the Senate Failing To Build Back Better? Blame Sexism

Build Back Better is not just about what’s right. It’s about what’s necessary to keep our country from falling apart at the seams. If we don’t mitigate climate change now, climate disasters will become more frequent, and more deadly and destructive. If we don’t build a strong childcare system, parents won’t be able to go to work, and we will lose skills and experience, as well as huge chunks of the labor force.

Without BBB, we’re losing not just a move toward equity, health and well-being—but also the chance at lasting prosperity.

Weekend Reading on Women's Representation; Rest in Power, Lani Guinier; NY Gov Kathy Hochul Is Shaking Things Up for Women; Black Women Are Just 6% of U.S. House

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation; Rest in Power, Lani Guinier; NY Gov Kathy Hochul Is Shaking Things Up for Women; Black Women Are Just 6% of U.S. House

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s term limit legislation could provide more women the chance to run and win; Minneapolis’s Andrea Jenkins is the first openly trans city council president in the U.S., and Seattle’s Debora Juarez marks same milestone for Indigenous people; Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s election brings the percentage of Black women in the U.S. House to 6 percent; Xiomara Castro, the incoming woman president of Honduras; the legacy of voting rights champion Lani Guinier, who died on Jan. 7; and more.

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Keeping Score: NYC’s First Women-Majority Council Takes Office; Only 55% of Non-Parents Want Kids Someday; D.C. Students Get Free Period Products

This week: Nebraskans face one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation; New York City’s first women-majority city council takes office; Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers sentenced to life in prison; D.C. Council approved free menstrual products in all schools; the gender gap in higher education widens; and more.

“We Know What We’re Doing”: How To Engage With Black Women Organizers Ahead of the 2022 Midterm Elections

“We Know What We’re Doing”: How To Engage With Black Women Organizers Ahead of the 2022 Midterm Elections

To effectively engage communities of color ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, it’s time more groups include the expertise of Black women organizers in their strategies year-round. Yet the financial investments, resources, and above all, trust in Black women organizers’ work is nowhere to be seen as this year’s election cycle gears up.   

military-family-basic-needs-allowance-hunger-national-defense-authorization-act-food-insecurity

More Work Ahead: Fighting Food Insecurity Among Military Families

In one of its last sessions of 2021, Congress passed a pared-down version of the Military Family Basic Needs Allowance as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This marks an important first step toward closing gaps in our social safety net through which currently-serving military families have been allowed to fall. But it’s miles from enough.

In the wake of Congress’s lackluster response, it is more urgent than ever for the administration to use its authority to take action on concrete, long-term solutions to address military hunger.

Women Take Over City Councils in New York and New Mexico: Weekend Reading on Women's Representation

Women Are Taking Over City Councils—From New York to New Mexico

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.

This week: Women hold 31 of the 51 seats on the New York City Council; the all-women city council in Las Cruces, N.M.; meet 21 women involved with voting rights; Women make up nearly half of the Cabinet in the Netherlands; the dearth of women in one teen’s AP history textbook; 111 must-see places in women’s History in D.C.; and more.

white-men-insurrection-january-6-masculinity-trump

White Masculinity and the January 6 Insurrection

While it is critically necessary to analyze the racial politics of January 6, this focus too often has the effect of rendering invisible another key aspect of that tragic event: the role of gender. The vast majority of insurrectionists were not only white people; they were white men.

Men—many of whom are conditioned from childhood to see themselves primarily as protectors and defenders—are the ones who respond most eagerly to pleas for them to help rescue their country, through violent means if necessary.

abortion bans

The U.S. Can’t Be a Global Leader on Democracy While Banning Abortion at Home

Last month, the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in a case that could set off a new era of abortion bans across much of the country. December also marked the start of President Biden’s Democracy Summit.

Yes, the U.S. faces an unprecedented crisis for the right to abortion. Before its next Democracy Summit, the Biden administration should make a real commitment to ending all anti-abortion policies that cause the U.S. to fall short of its democratic aspirations.