Maternal mortality is one of the most compelling indicators that America runs on racism. Here’s what we need to do to overcome this legacy and current reality.
Black Lives Matter
Living With Dignity: Louisiana Black Women Demand Resources
Unrelenting storms are ravaging the world, including Louisiana. The attack on our reproductive rights is another storm threatening Black women in Louisiana and across the country.
Black women are being denied the resources, and the right to live and raise our families with dignity—and without state interference.
Four Reasons Men’s Sports Are Not the Gold Standard
As women’s sports make progress (however slow), it is imperative to examine the crucial problems characteristic of the industry and decide what equality can look like. Is the male model of sports really the standard worth striving for? What does a healthy sports culture look like and how can we foster that with the evolution of women’s sports?
Here are four reasons why men’s sports are not the gold standard—they’re the relic of a problematic past.
Dear America: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks
As I witnessed several U.S. senators smear and disrespect Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearings, I wanted to shout these words: “America, get your knee off our necks.”
Jackson should be confirmed with an overwhelming bipartisan vote. However, that’s not the world in which we find ourselves, But history will soon be made, and Judge Jackson will become Justice Jackson—with a bipartisan vote. And from henceforth all Black women and girls will finally see themselves on our highest court.
March 2022 Reads for the Rest of Us
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups. March and April are historically big months for new book releases, and this year is no exception. I’ve narrowed down a list of hundreds of books to 36 this month. In addition to some compelling fiction, there’s imperative nonfiction, memoirs and debuts.
As a Black American, I Am Tired. We Are Tired.
When I woke up on Tuesday, Feb. 1, I found myself scrolling through Instagram and seeing every other post celebrating Black History Month—from brands and organizations to politicians and friends in my feed. Three days later, in the early hours of the morning, Minneapolis police killed Amir Locke in his sleep while serving a no-knock warrant—the same type police used to kill Breonna Taylor in her sleep, and the same Minneapolis police that killed George Floyd in 2020 in front of all of our eyes. As I tried to understand why I was feeling incredibly cynical, I realized the reason: I am tired. We are tired.
Yet, despite being tired, we must keep going. We have to keep fighting. We have to keep organizing. Together we must continue to press forward, turning pain into purpose and purpose into power.
Most Anticipated Reads for the Rest of Us 2022
I’ve spent the last few months scouring catalogs and websites, receiving hundreds of books and even more emails from authors, publicists and publishers, reading your book Tweets and DMs, all to find out what books are coming out in 2022 that I think you, my exceptional, inquisitive and discerning Ms. readers, will want to hear about.
There are 101 incredible books on this list. I’ve been a professional book jockey for 15+ years and I am encouraged to see more books each year that reflect the lives we actually lead. There’s always more work to be done and more to be written, but I’ve reason to be hopeful. So let’s get to it!
U.S. Backslide on Abortion Rights Is a Grave Danger to Democracy, Say Both Reproductive Rights Experts and Legal Analysts
Saturday, Jan. 22, marked Roe v. Wade’s 49th anniversary—and it very well may be its last.
On Friday, Jan. 21, experts on democracy and elections from the Brennan Center and Ms. discussed the implications of the Texas abortion law S.B. 8 and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that directly challenges the precedent of Roe.
Sponsored by Ms. and the Gender and Policy Center at George Mason University’s Schar School, the rousing discussion set the stage for how the U.S. got to this point, and outlined where we go from here.
Reads for the Rest of Us: 2021 Best of the Rest
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.
You’ve read the other “Best of” lists—now read the other one. You know, for the rest of us. Each year, I review my monthly Reads for the Rest of Us lists and choose my favorite books of the year. It was such a wonderful challenge to review all the lists and choose my top 50, but here they are.
The White Lotus: Lessons on Black Lives Matter, Reparations and Queer Liberation
This summer’s finale of The White Lotus (TWL) garnered 1.9 million viewers and has been renewed by HBO for a second season. Overall, critics cast the first season of TWL as an entertaining, if bleak, satire of wealthy whiteness. In the words of one headline, “Nothing changes on The White Lotus. That’s the point.”
What’s missing from previous critical reviews is how TWL explores themes related to Black Lives Matter, reparations and queer liberation—or how TWL offers useful lessons for white progressives.