More Than A Magazine, A Movement
In this week’s edition, we take a look at the American Rescue Plan Act to what it has in store for those suffering through the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; mark one year since the pandemic officially began; discuss President Biden’s latest vaccine timeline; and, run down recent attacks on reproductive health.
As we reflect on the past year, let us be reminded that the opportunity for advancing an intersectional feminist agenda is now.
From Uganda and Bangladesh to Mexico and India, women around the world have been some of the most proactive members of the COVID-19 response, creating innovative solutions to the compounding difficulties of this pandemic.
COVID-19 has exposed the gendered aspects of food insecurity, especially for refugees and women in crisis settings. Women in Uganda, South Sudan, and Afghanistan confirmed that food insecurity was among their top concerns, ahead of heath care and access to sanitizer or masks.
“We know what COVID-19 is, but we don’t know how to feed our children.”
Nearly 40 million Americans faced hunger before the pandemic, and millions will surely continue to struggle even as the country begins its recovery. The FEED Act represents the best kind of creative thinking so desperately needed right now, crossing partisan barriers to feed people who are hungry, uplifting struggling businesses and supporting state and local governments that have been hard-hit by the pandemic’s devastating impact on tax revenues.
Prior to COVID-19, nearly 40 million people did not know where they would find their next meal. In the wake of the pandemic, that number has risen to over 60 million and is still climbing. So why haven’t Congress and the Trump administration moved heaven and earth to get SNAP to all those Americans who need it?
Many of us are stunned by the coronavirus outbreak, unsure exactly what to do or how to proceed. Should we stockpile food? Work remotely from the couch? Cancel weekend plans?
But what if you don’t have enough money to feed your family in the first place? What if you can’t afford not to show up for work? What if you work in the service industry, where you can’t just work remotely? What if your community is still struggling to recover from the last financial crisis, and you have been out of work for months or years? What if your children’s school closes and they don’t have access to their usual free or reduced-price meals?