More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Black women experience a unique intersection of patriarchal and white supremacist oppression, leading to statistics like disproportionate maternal mortality in the U.S. and foundational feminist theory like the writing of Audre Lorde. Black women are not a monolith, however, and include women from all around the world who are a part of the African diaspora. They have often led social movements for a wide variety of causes because of the intersectional oppressive structures on their lives.
This election is an unfortunate macrocosm of what Black women experience each day across industries: a fundamental lack of trust to lead.
It is long past time for us to face the fact that racism—specifically anti-Blackness—and sexism are at the base of the many other reasons Harris was unable to triumph in this election.
Wrapping his wife in a blanket as she mourned the loss of her pregnancy at 11 weeks, Hope Ngumezi wondered why no obstetrician was coming to see his wife. Over the course of six hours on June 11, 2023, Porsha Ngumezi had bled so much in the emergency department at Houston Methodist Sugar Land that she’d needed two transfusions. Three hours later, her heart stopped.
The 35-year-old’s death was preventable, according to more than a dozen doctors who reviewed a detailed summary of her case for ProPublica. Some said it raises serious questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to diverge from the standard of care and reach for less-effective options that could expose their patients to more risks. Doctors and patients described similar decisions they’ve witnessed across the state.
Porsha’s is the fifth case ProPublica has reported in which women died after they did not receive a D&C or its second-trimester equivalent, a dilation and evacuation; three of those deaths were in Texas.
Front & Center began as first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. Moving into the fourth year and next phase of this series, we’re expanding our focus beyond a single policy intervention to include a broader examination of systemic issues impacting Black women experiencing poverty. This means diving deeper into the interconnected challenges they face—including navigating the existing safety net; healthcare, childcare and elder care; and the importance of mental, physical and spiritual well-being. .
“When I learned about the Magnolia Mother’s Trust program, it felt like a lifeline during a tough time when I was recovering from multiple eye surgeries. I have a lot of eye issues and bad vision and currently need new glasses but the cost is just too high, and I’m trying really hard to protect my savings. … It’s important for me to prioritize my children’s needs over unnecessary spending on wants. I’m also figuring out other ways to save, like refinancing my vehicle with a better interest rate. I hadn’t even had a checking account in years until the MMT program.”
Since Election Day, I’ve cycled through a whirlwind of emotions and tried to make sense of it all. In this time of unprecedented division, when hope felt within reach—the chance to elect the first woman president—history took a familiar turn and, once again, did not break that ultimate glass ceiling.
But history also teaches us that meaningful change is rarely linear. It’s slow, uneven and complicated—especially when women don’t speak with one voice. Progress requires resilience, grit and an unwavering commitment to push through hard times. Taking action is key. And as hard as it can be, the effort is always worth it, even when it’s hard to see.
In my university classes, I teach undergraduates about the ways in which people on the land that is today the United States have been accepted or rejected as American citizens, and how even those who have gained citizenship must continually fight for their status as full citizens. We discuss issues facing minority groups including indigenous, Black and LGBTQ Americans. And we discuss marginalized majority groups: women and working and middle-class Americans. Students learn how all these struggles persist over decades, if not centuries.
History and politics are cyclical. Logically, I know this is how the American story goes. (And so many stories across the globe.) But it still hurts anyway. There are big changes coming, but as the late civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis, wrote in his masterful op-ed published posthumously: “The truth does not change.” It is on us to speak that truth to power. It is more important than ever to stay engaged, to resist the urge to flee or opt out of the political process when we get that taste of loss or rejection—a feeling that’s all too familiar for many Americans.
In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.
This week’s special post-election edition is tracking the 2024 election’s bright spots, feminist victories and a full rundown of the challenges and dangers we now face.
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: The results of the 2024 general election have left us grappling with the status of women in the United States. So many wins across the nation must be celebrated, even if the race at the top of the ticket was not what so many of us expected. The time for organizing, protesting, advocating for systems reform, and analyzing the election, as well as so many other avenues for policy debate, can and will come soon.
In her concession speech, Vice President Harris spoke of an old adage: “Only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, but for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But here’s the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars.”
Hearing this after Diwali, the Hindu celebration of the triumph of good over evil, of light over dark, gave me chills.
“We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square. We will also wage it in quieter ways, in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, by always using our strength to lift people up.”
After an electric 107-day campaign that made history, challenged traditional norms of political leadership and centered equality for all Americans, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a concession speech at Howard University, acknowledging the outcome of the election was not what she had hoped for but emphasizing the enduring promise of America.
Two years ago, the U.S. Senate did not have a single Black woman. And before that, only two Black women had ever served in the upper chamber of Congress. Lisa Blunt Rochester in Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland will change the math, making history while bringing greater representation to Congress and maintaining the Democrats’ hold on the seats.
This is also the first time that two Black women will serve as senators together—and they will each take seats held by white male Democrats.