More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has succeeded in getting Donald Trump’s co-conspirators—especially key insiders Sydney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro—to plead guilty and testify against the former president and others.
This move is the latest example of Black women leading the way in defense of our endangered democracy.
To effectively engage communities of color ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, it’s time more groups include the expertise of Black women organizers in their strategies year-round. Yet the financial investments, resources, and above all, trust in Black women organizers’ work is nowhere to be seen as this year’s election cycle gears up.
If Democrats want to keep winning, they need to prioritize and act quickly to increase and strengthen the political power of Black people.
As the historic second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump continues to unfold, District Attorney Fani Willis of Fulton County, Ga., is working to hold the former president accountable in her own jurisdiction.
“I’ve had to double my security. We’ve gotten a lot of comments. And they’re always racist. I don’t think it’s an insult to remind me I’m a Black woman. It’s a waste of their time.”
We have 13 days left, and I hope we can survive it.
We can celebrate Warnock and Ossoff’s victories, at the same time that we hold accountable those who want to destroy the equality feminists and women of color have worked towards for centuries.
Voice hoarse from being on the bullhorn on Election Day, Barbara Arnwine—president and founder of Transformative Justice Coalition—spoke to Ms. early Wednesday morning to discuss the election, what the results mean for the future of U.S. politics, and why when Black women organize and vote, everyone benefits.
“It took every bit of work we had in our bodies, every bit of energy we could give, every voice you could give.”
Young voters, especially young Black voters, were critical to Georgia’s historic shift—especially during the latest Senate runoffs. In fact, almost one in five young voters (ages 18-29) who voted in the recent Georgia runoffs did not vote in the general election—made up disproportionately of Black youth.
Kathleen Unger and VoteRiders ensure that voter ID laws—which disproportionately disenfranchise people of color, low-income people, women and young people—don’t prevent voters from making their voices heard.
“VoteRiders was born of outrage—my outrage that people will be deprived of their right to vote.”
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 in this biweekly round-up.
THIS WEEK: NYC paramedic targeted by New York Post for supplementing income with sex work speaks out; Trump pressures Raffensperger to overturn election results; Bianca Smith is the first Black woman to coach baseball; an inhumane new Ohio bill says women must bury or cremate tissue after an abortion; Argentina legalizes abortion; 300 Nigerian boys kidnapped by Boko Haram; Dr. Susan Moore dies after being disregarded by her doctor; Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul is sentenced to six years in prison; and more.
Close elections may be more thrilling—just ask the spectators in ancient arenas, we suppose—but they are not inherently more democratic. In fact, close races in a changing state like Georgia are exactly where voter suppression can be expected to pay the greatest dividends.
Why not just have a system that flexibly adapts to demographic and political changes, and is able to represent all voters?