Tag: Latina Women

August 2023 Reads for the Rest of Us

Each month, we provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.

I particularly enjoy books that are as entertaining as they are informative. Books that I just want to burn through because they are so good. Some call them “unputdownable,” and I dare say that on this list, you’ll find 30 that are just that.  (Another one that’s unputdownable? It’s 50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution, and it’s available for pre-order now.) Happy reading!

Immigrant Justice Is Reproductive Justice: Latin Communities Under Attack Post-Roe

Latinas are disproportionately affected by harmful immigration policies and the continued attacks on abortion care one year after the Dobbs decision ended the constitutional right to abortion.
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice’s Lupe M. Rodríguez talks about her own experience coming to the U.S. and why the Biden administration must do everything it can to improve our immigration system.

“I know firsthand that far too many of our families live in constant fear of the threat of deportation, detention and separation. This pushes us further into hiding and prevents us from living healthy and safe lives.”

Global Authoritarianism, Women’s Rights and the Power of Feminist Organizing

“One thing that we see now, even with all of the challenges of a totalitarian government and of the Taliban dictatorship, is that the people on the frontlines of this fight are the women of Afghanistan. It is incredible that they are coming into the streets to fight for fundamental freedoms. I think this is a big lesson for all of us, even for those in the United States and others in the international community, to see these women now.”

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.)

‘They Decriminalized Abortion, But They Still Judge Us’: The Mexican Fight for Reproductive Justice

In the case of abortion, which the supreme court decriminalized in September 2021, allowing women access to abortion up until 12 weeks gestation, women are still struggling to gain proper access to legal abortion for free at public hospitals because doctors are unaware of the law or find excuses to delay the procedure.

Human rights defender and lawyer Ariadne Song has defended women’s rights cases for 19 years, including the ‘aborto legal’ campaign first started by the Green Wave, or Marea Verde, in Argentina.

Welfare Is a Human Right: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty With Annelise Orleck

In her book, Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty, Annelise Orleck not only shares the history of Clark County Welfare Right Organization’s (CCWRO) ascent and activism but also provides an insightful guide to community organizing.

“I loved the CCWRO’s insistence that poor women are experts on poverty and can run their own programs better than so-called professionals. And they did! … They demanded to know why a state that took tax revenue from gambling and prostitution was considered morally acceptable, but mothers trying to feed their kids were called cheaters. They were fearless.”

This Earth Day, Celebrate 20 Environmental Justice Organizations Bringing the Outside to Us All

Ms. celebrates Earth Day by featuring the work of a diverse body of activists who have founded groups that aim to make outdoor spaces, pursuits and environmental activism welcoming and safe for all.

From organizations that focus on women and girls, people of color, the queer community, the formerly incarcerated, children from economically challenged families, veterans and those who are disabled, here are 20 groups you might enjoy joining or supporting as we work towards such a future.

With Biden’s Asylum Ban, I Wouldn’t Be Here

Zoila is still fighting her asylum case, and at the same time finding the courage to advocate for others. Under Biden’s new rule, she likely would have been blocked from pursuing her case at all.

“I never wanted to leave Honduras. It’s the only home I’ve ever known. But two years ago I was forced to make the terrible decision to flee because home was no longer safe. After a long and difficult journey, my children and I were able to seek asylum in the United States. … Some things are a lot better here, though. Most importantly, we are finally free from my ex-partner’s violence. … As difficult as my journey has been, I know that it could have been even worse. President Biden recently proposed a new rule that would ban asylum for most people. … If that rule had existed when my family came to the border, I probably would have had no chance of getting asylum at all.”

War on Women Report: World Athletics Bans Trans Women; Maternal Mortality on the Rise; E. Jean Carroll’s Rape Case Against Trump

and

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

This month: The FDA is set to review the application for the first over-the-counter birth control pill; World Athletics voted to ban all trans women from elite athletics; Republicans have introduced bills that would bring homicides charges for abortion; and more.

April 2023 Reads for the Rest of Us

My hope is that each of you reading this column will do some research in your own communities to find out where the threats to the freedom to read lie. Talk to your local school and public librarians. Call your legislators, sign the petitions, run for your local school board, raise hell. 

And also, keep reading. Read the 34 books on this list or whatever else you can get your hands on. Then pass those books on to your friends, your kids, your friends’ kids, or donate them to your libraries and schools.