More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Books provide us not only with necessary information but also with the respite we need from the constant labor of securing our rights and humanity in all the ways they are under attack.
I hope of the 33 books here, you’ll find one that inspires, relaxes or distracts you for a little while.
At our current pace, we won’t close the wage gap between men and women until 2157—nearly 136 years from now, with 36 of those added to make up for pandemic setbacks. We can’t hand off this injustice to our great-great granddaughters. So how can public policymakers, philanthropy and private businesses come together to accelerate the process?
There are solutions for narrowing the wage gap between men and women—let’s start by raising the federal minimum wage to $15; providing paid leave to all employees; and changing hiring practices.
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups. March and April are historically big months for new book releases, and this year is no exception. I’ve narrowed down a list of hundreds of books to 36 this month. In addition to some compelling fiction, there’s imperative nonfiction, memoirs and debuts.
Karen V. Hill is president and CEO of the Harriet Tubman Home, Inc. in Auburn, N.Y. She has successfully pursued federal legislation to have Harriet Tubman’s homestead become one of the newest units of the National Park Service.
“To me that’s just startling, that this place in Maryland where she had been treated so harshly, she was able to separate the brutality of slavery from how she loved the land.”
Most 19th-century writers focused on Tubman’s bravery and strength. Her supporters praised her for her successful solo journeys into the slave-holding South to free dozens of enslaved people.
Yet, as an enslaved woman who lived in a patriarchal and anti-Black America, Harriet Tubman’s freedom dream and fugitive activism demonstrated something else: She offered up a version of freedom where a disabled Black woman sat at the center of it, where Black women were liberators, and where liberation was communal and democratic.
Currently premiering at Sundance, Calendar Girls is a documentary about a Florida dance troop made up of women aged 50-plus. Embracing whimsy in unicorn-themed headbands one minute and then discussing heavy subjects like death and assisted suicide the next, the Calendar Girls offer their perspectives on what it means to grow older while exploring the power of friendships, leisure, work and learning new things even later in life.
Without access to in-home care, women tend to take up the unpaid responsibilities of caregiving. In my family, it fell to me—the oldest daughter.
Congress has finally agreed on a framework for Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda. This includes an unprecedented investment in home care to expand access to caregivers by improving their pay and training. Congress must invest in home care. Young girls and young women deserve to experience their childhood.
Studies show that seniors still have high rates of sexual desire, but often feel pressure from society and family members to give up sex.
“As a feminist of the 1970s who fought long and hard against sexism, including making the bedroom a level playing field, how can be stopped in my tracks by my own daughters?”
Taylor Swift released her re-recorded version of fan-favorite album “Red.” The highly emotional album takes on additional meaning in light of new lyrics about a relationship’s power differential and the brutality of fame—and the male gaze behind both.
Last month, Dr. Sian Proctor—a 51-year-old geoscientist, community college professor and artist—became the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft and the fourth Black American woman to go to space.
“Representation matters, and it’s good for everyone,” Proctor told Ms.
