Black History

Harriet Tubman’s ‘Shadow of a Face’: New Monument Advances Inclusive History

PUBLISHED 3/9/2023 by

Friday, March 10, is Harriet Tubman Day, which marks the 110th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s passing on March 10, 1913. Last year, we celebrated Tubman’s bicentennial birthday with Ms. magazine’s Tubman 200 project. Today, we continue in the celebration of our Black feminist hero as we recognize the latest Harriet Tubman Monument. Designed by artist Nina Cooke John, Shadow of a Face opened to the public yesterday in Newark, N.J., in Harriet Tubman Square, renamed from Washington Park on Juneteenth of 2022. 

The new Harriet Tubman monument replaces a statue of Christopher Columbus, which was removed in 2020. Newark’s arts and cultural affairs director Fayemi Shakur said the city’s choice to replace of a symbol of conquest with “an ideal figure for democracy and freedom” is part of a larger project of healing. 

Welfare Is *Still* a Woman’s Issue

PUBLISHED 3/2/2023 by

In the richest nation in the world, it shouldn’t be this difficult to make ends meet for yourself and your family.

As a society, we can choose to prioritize parents and their families. And that starts by implementing a guaranteed income program that will empower Black families and women everywhere. The fight for guaranteed income has deep roots in the civil rights movement—and it’s long overdue.

History Is Incomplete Without Black Women

PUBLISHED 2/24/2023 by

Education is largely based on perspectives that do not reflect the fact that more than half the world’s population are people of color and female. It’s only when all students are able to recognize themselves in history that they can imagine a future in which they play an important role in the progress and achievement of the world.

(This story also appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Ms. magazine. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Virginia Sends its First Black Woman to Congress; Barbara Lee Enters California Senate Race

PUBLISHED 2/24/2023 by

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

This week: Jennifer McClellan will be the first Black woman to represent Virginia in the House of Representatives; as an older generation steps back from political positions, more younger women step up to lead;

ChatGPT: New Technology, Same Old Misogynoir

PUBLISHED 2/22/2023 by

Machine learning inputs reflect the biases of their writers. The contributions to human history made by women, children and people who speak nonstandard English will be underrepresented by chatbots like ChatGPT.

I love technology and love it when new applications hit the market. My only wish is that AI designers ensure Black women, and all marginalized people, are fairly represented in their datasets.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Women in Congress Lead Committees That Control U.S. Spending; Celebrating Suffragists of Color

PUBLISHED 2/3/2023 by

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

This week: The leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are all women, as is the top White House budget official—the first-ever all-women team to lead the congressional committees that control government spending; new research about women of color involved in the suffrage movement; the power of knitting; and more.

Florida’s Rejection of African American Studies Reflects the Historical Fight for Black Education

PUBLISHED 2/2/2023 by

Florida officials have rejected a new Advanced Placement (AP) course on African American studies, calling it “woke indoctrination” that “significantly lacks educational value.” But the modern figures and movements that the state board objects to are extensions of Black history. That history is the story of Black activism, the ongoing, centuries-old struggle for rights and freedoms in the United States—and African American studies as a field is itself rooted in that effort. 

“We have the potential of raising an entire generation of Black children who will not be able to see themselves represented in their own state or in education.”