Tag: Economic Justice

‘Please Tell Me You’re Okay’: Watching Iran’s Protests Erupt

He is in Tehran. I am in Baltimore. The separation is unbearable. Right now, I don’t even want an answer. I want a sign that means he’s alive, that he’s not dead, that the internet has been restored, that he hasn’t been arrested or beaten.

The death of the 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, at the hands of the “morality police” hasn’t just sparked spontaneous protests—it’s countrywide. Women are removing their headscarves and burning them because they are tired of being told what to do with their bodies. Men cheer them on, and some block the fists and batons crashing down on their sisters.

A Nation Without the Hyde Amendment Will Be Safer and More Humane for All of Us

On Sept. 30, 1976, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Hyde Amendment, which barred federal funds from covering abortions with the narrowest exceptions for rape, incest or threats to a patient’s life. As soon as Hyde went into effect, the number of Medicaid-covered abortions in the United States dropped from 300,000 to just a few thousand. 

Abortion, like all healthcare, should be a human right—not merely a benefit of select insurance plans. 

It’s Abortion, Stupid: How Dobbs May Have Cost Republicans the Midterms

Will historical trends in midterm elections be uprooted? Will the party in the White House not face devastating losses in Congress? Is it possible that Republican promises to pass legislation that would ban abortion in every U.S. state could, in fact, help Democrats hold on to their majorities in both the House and the Senate?

“Between guns, abortion and the Republicans’ behavior, people will be concerned enough to go to the polls,” said Roger Craver, cofounder of the government watchdog group Common Cause. “And a big turnout will be very important because that’s what will give Democrats the win.”

Abigail Disney Is Deconstructing and Rebuilding the American Dream

Some employees of the “happiest place on Earth” can barely afford housing and food, while the CEO makes an annual salary in the multi-millions.

“Without collective bargaining, in some form, whether it’s unions or some other para-union type organizations, we all live at the mercy of Jeff Bezos, we all live at the mercy of Bob Iger. Is that really the society you want to live in?” Abigail Disney told Ms., ahead of her new documentary, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, out in select theaters and on streaming Sept. 23, 2022.

Dark Money Anti-Abortion Groups Peddle the Absurd Idea That a Post-Roe World Empowers Women

Right-wing dark money groups are peddling the notion that abortion access “harms” women and, even more outlandish, that the Dobbs decision overturning Roe “empowers” them. This position essentializes women by suggesting their value is centered around motherhood. It also uses pseudo-feminist claims to detract from the very real dangers a post-Roe landscape presents for people and the myriad ways abortion access has helped advance gender equality in the U.S. in the last five decades. 

How to Support Moms on Equal Pay Day

Sept. 8, 2022, is Moms’ Equal Pay Day—the day in 2022 when the average working mom’s pay finally catches up to what the average dad earned in 2021. For every dollar paid to a working dad, moms only make 58 cents. In other words, it takes moms roughly an extra nine months to earn what dads earn.

Here are some ways to take action help raise awareness about #MomsEqualPay Day.

Biden Just Canceled Significant Amounts of Your Student Loan Debt. Here’s How to Claim It

The Biden administration announced it would cancel significant amounts of student debt for millions of Americans, marking the largest discharge of education debt in U.S. history. Under the new plan, individual student loan borrowers earning under $125,000 per year (or $250,000 for households) qualify for up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness. Recipients of Pell Grants are eligible for an additional $10,000 in forgiveness.

Student loan debtors are disproportionately women, who hold about two-thirds of student loan debt—yet earn just 74 percent of what men graduates earn. Black students are also disproportionately plagued by student loan debt: More than 70 percent of Black students go into debt, compared to 56 percent of white students.