Beyond the Bus: Rosa Parks’ History of Fighting Sexual Violence and Systemic Oppression

Rosa Parks is often remembered as the quiet seamstress who ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Yet, her history as an advocate against sexual violence is often overlooked. Parks’ work demonstrates how the fight against sexual violence is inseparably linked to the fight against systemic oppression, particularly racism, sexism, and misogynoir.

Hip-Hop Icon Roxanne Shanté Gets Her Long-Overdue Grammy Moment

Roxanne Shanté made history once as the first solo female MC in hip-hop, and now she has made history again. On Feb. 1, 2025, the Recording Academy honored her with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, making her the first solo female rapper to receive this recognition. She received the award at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, just one day before the official Grammy Awards.

As she reflected on receiving one of the most prestigious honors in music, Shanté opened up about her career, her impact and her ongoing mission to support at-risk youth in this exclusive interview.

Research Supports New Medication Abortion Regime—But Some Fear Political Risks

Gynuity Health Projects has published new research in the New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that a double dose of ulipristal acetate (UPA), sold as an emergency contraceptive under the brand name Ella, taken in combination with the ulcer medication misoprostol, is an effective and acceptable medication abortion regimen with no reported serious adverse events. 

The current recognized clinical standard for first-trimester outpatient abortion is mifepristone and misoprostol, but mifepristone is tightly restricted by the FDA. Ulipristal acetate, on the other hand, currently has no such restrictions.

Some have expressed concern that this research could endanger access to Ella in the United States, and potentially also endanger the FDA-approved over-the-counter emergency contraception Plan B, made from the synthetic hormone levonorgestrel.

‘People Will Die’: The Trump Administration Said It Lifted Its Ban on Lifesaving Humanitarian Aid. That’s Not True.

On Friday morning, the staffers at a half dozen U.S.-funded medical facilities in Sudan who care for severely malnourished children had a choice to make: Defy President Donald Trump’s order to immediately stop their operations or let up to 100 babies and toddlers die.

They chose the children.

In spite of the order, they will keep their facilities open for as long as they can, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation.

As crucial days and hours pass, aid groups say Trump’s order has already caused irreparable harm. And amidst the storm of funding cuts, USAID—a crucial independent organization that supports millions of people worldwide—is under direct attack from Trump and Elon Musk. “USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk wrote on X on Sunday. “Time for it to die.”

Award-Winning Doc ‘Sally!’ Introduces Sally Gearhart, the Lesbian Activist Who Took on Proposition 6 With Harvey Milk

Most people have heard of Harvey Milk. Sally Gearhart—not as much. But in fact, Gearhart sat right beside Milk as his debate partner in 1978 when they disputed—and ultimately defeated—Proposition 6, the Briggs Initiative that would have banned lesbian and gay teachers and topics in California’s public schools. When their opponents quoted the Bible, Milk was at a loss. Gearhart, on the other hand, could quote it right back at them.

Born in 1931 into a Christian household in Virginia, Gearhart charted her own unconventional path from a career as a teacher at Christian colleges in Texas until she determined to live her life out in the open and left for San Francisco with no job in the early 1970s. Ultimately, she gained a position at San Francisco State University, where she became the first open lesbian to be tenured at a major university in the U.S. Alongside that, she became a formidable and historic advocate for lesbian and queer rights.

This historic lesbian activist is featured in Deborah Craig’s new award-winning documentary Sally!

For the First Time in History, Women Will Have Serious Philanthropic Power. Will They Choose to Use It?

Women are at a historic moment financially. In 2020, McKinsey reported that by 2030, $30 trillion of assets would be passed down into the hands of women—called “The Great Wealth Transfer.” For the first time in history, women will have a serious seat as a cohort to make financial decisions and donations.

As wealth and power increasingly grow in the hands of a few, it is clear how the world of philanthropy has been overwhelmingly shaped and guided by men. However, with today’s pressing global challenges—from economic inequality to climate change—if women philanthropists don’t step up now, when will they? It’s time for women to not just participate, but to lead with bold, transformative giving.

Women’s Paychecks Are Shrinking—And Policy Isn’t Keeping Up

Last September, the National Partnership for Women and Families reported the wage gap for all women workers had widened to 75 cents for every dollar men earned, representing a 3-cent decrease in real pay per hour for women.

While on the surface this may seem negligible in a paycheck, even a seemingly small increase in wage disparity dramatically impacts the significant gains in pay since the 1980s. American Progress reports that with this current backslide, it will now take until 2068 to close the wage gap.

Universities Must Do Better for the Trans Community

For the past decade, Americans have been fed a steady diet of transphobic hysteria, with 2024 being the 5th consecutive record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation. The election of Donald J. Trump was predicated on a fight against trans rights.

As professors at San José State University, we have seen the results of this type of targeted campaign. Recent and past events on our campus by transphobic individuals and extremist groups emphasizing bigotry and hate, turn university spaces into anti-intellectual theater and harm trans students. In so doing, they position our campuses too closely to intolerance. 

U.N. Landmark Ruling Condemns Ecuador and Nicaragua for Forcing Girls Into Motherhood

For the first time in its history, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recognized in a Jan. 20 ruling that denying an abortion to a child is not just a denial of choice but an imposition of pregnancy and forced motherhood that irreversibly disrupts their health, well-being and life trajectory.

This landmark decision represents a crucial shift in how the international community addresses the intersection of children’s rights, reproductive rights and gender justice.